


Starry Eyed

by xlightless



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Ancient Technology, Fallen Stars, M/M, Magic, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Sky Pirates, this au gets weird y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 18:18:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15225138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xlightless/pseuds/xlightless
Summary: Youngjae is the captain of a skyship that chases lightning bolts. Daehyun is the star that falls onto the ship’s deck in the middle of a thunderstorm. Youngjae needs money, Daehyun just wants to go back home, and neither of them seem to be able to tolerate the other.





	Starry Eyed

Youngjae knows what lightning bolts look like. They crackle and jump in long, erratic bursts of light like the quick crack of a gun. So when he sees a bright streak of light fall in a long, smooth arc across the sky, radiant enough to break through the dark clouds and violent rain, he knows that isn’t a lightning bolt. He lifts his goggles from his eyes, squinting into the downpour to get a better look.

Then, Youngjae realizes the arc is headed straight for his ship.

“Incoming!” he shouts. His voice rings loud on the deck, and his crew scramble to figure out _where_ the danger is coming from. “Above! It’s coming from above!”

The light burns brighter the closer it gets, and Youngjae has to squint. It illuminates the entire world around him, and he holds his arms above his eyes to block it out. Somehow, he manages to make out a hand, blurred beyond recognition, but he can see it reaching out to him.

Time slows down around his as he holds his hand out, too.

That’s when the world collapses in a blinding collision.

//

Youngjae regains consciousness slowly.

The wind howls around him. The usual creak and groan of his ship echoes in his ears. He struggles to open his eyes, but the ship’s relaxing sway in the wind tries to coax him back to sleep. He takes a deep breath, squinting his eyes open at a blue sky.

Youngjae sits up, rubbing his head and trying to remember what happened, and sees a gaping hole in the deck. He throws his raincoat off before he crawls towards the edge, spluttering incoherently. The wood is singed at the edges, but soggy from the rain. The hole goes straight through the lower deck to the galley. When he squints his eyes, he thinks he can see a figure down there.

_Only one way to find out_ , he thinks to himself. He jumps down and lands with a groan.

“Not my best idea,” Youngjae mutters as he lets out a pained huff.

When his eyes adjust, he realizes the figure belongs to a young man. His tanned skin is dotted with shimmering freckles, and his hair shines like silver starlight. His chest rises and falls at the same rhythm of the ship’s.

“So, he’s alive,” Youngjae says. He looks up the hole in the deck and frowns when he sees a similar hole in the tallest sail. “Um, wow… We’re fucked.”

“Captain!” someone shouts from above. It’s Jongup, his navigator.

“Down here!” Youngjae replies.

A blond head pokes out the side of the hole as Jongup peers in. “Captain? What are you doing down there?”

“There’s a man here. I’ll put him in my cabin and I’ll meet you up there,” Youngjae says. “Can you check on everyone else?”

“Got it!” Jongup replies before disappearing.

Youngjae looks back down at the young man, pursing his lips, then back up the hole. “how did he even survive?”

Youngjae sighs. He’ll figure that out later. For now, he’ll take the young man up to his cabin, and then gather his crew to figure out what to do about the holes in the deck and the sail. As he lifts the young man from the rubble, he’s just thankful he didn’t rip a hole straight through the ship. Neptune knows how many crowns _that_ type of repair would cost.

They’d be better off with a new ship entirely at that point.

//

Youngjae is there when the young man wakes up that night. He sits on the chair by the bed, his eyes beginning to droop. It’s been a long day of trying to keep the ship together just enough to reach the closest city. The sound of rustling sheets brings his attention to his bed. The young man sits up, blinking impossibly wide eyes at Youngjae. They glint silver and gold in the light.

“Hey,” Youngjae says with what he hopes is a friendly smile. The young man doesn’t reply, and only brings the blanket tighter around himself. “I’m Youngjae and you’re on my ship, the Wild Vega.”

Still no reply, and Youngjae tries not to let the irritation stew.

“What’s your name?” Youngjae tries again.

He stays silent.

“Okay,” Youngjae says, getting up with a sigh. He takes the tray of food on his desk and places it in the young man’s lap. “Since you obviously aren’t talking, I guess I’ll just leave you alone. Have some food, whatever.” He grabs his jacket from the chair and heads to the door. He glances back at the young man. “Also, don’t think of jumping out the window if you plan to escape. We’re about…a couple thousand miles above the ground.”

His eyes widen, but if he says anything, Youngjae doesn’t hear it because he’s already out the door. When he leaves his cabin, he’s met with several pairs of curious eyes.

“What?” Youngjae asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Did he say anything?”

“What’s his name?”

“Where did he come from?”

Before they can ask anything else, Youngjae raises his hand to silence them. “He hasn’t said anything, but don’t bother him, got it? He’s eating.” The rest of his crew look slightly deflated at his response, but he claps his hands. “Alright, everybody, get back to work! We need to keep this ship running if we want to make it to Lunaris in a week!”

They scurry back to their posts, but Jongup pulls him aside. “Captain, I don’t think Vega will _last_ a week, let alone the next couple _days_. She wasn’t exactly in the best condition in the first place.”

Lunaris is the closest aerial-city they can port, but Jongup is right. Lunaris is too far for Vega to handle. Her frame groans more as she struggles to support herself and the crew.

Youngjae sighs, running his hand through his already messy hair, but when he looks at Jongup, he knows that they’ve come up with the same plan. “You know what to do. I’ll talk to Junhong.”

Jongup nods before heading to the stern.

Youngjae scrubs his face, groaning softly before looking for Junhong. He’s in charge of all the weapons aboard the ship. Initially, Youngjae didn’t want him on the crew––he’s too much of a loose cannon in Youngjae’s opinion––but he knows his way around most weapons and some magic. It only took a couple weeks for Junhong to warm up to the crew.

“Junhong!” Youngjae exclaims as he steps onto the lower deck. He sees the head of short jet black hair behind one of the machine guns, but he still asks, “You in here?”

“Where the hell else would I be?” is the reply. The head of hair moves to reveal a face smeared with oil. “What do you want?”

“Inventory check,” Youngjae says.

Junhong wipes his hands on his pants as he begins listing what weapons they have left. “We have the machine guns, but not enough ammo for all of them. The cannon is still fine. A couple rifles. A handful of swords.” He scratches his head. “That guy up in your cabin sure took out a lot of Vega.”

Youngjae groans, dropping his head and rubbing his neck. “Yeah, I know _, but_ I have a plan.”

Junhong smirks, crossing his arms above his chest. “This sounds like fun.”

“Oh, _trust me_ , it will be,” Youngjae says. He sits on the table, swinging his legs in excitement. “I need to make sure we’re prepared, though.”

Junhong tilts his head. “You’re not planning to take down a ship, are you?”

“Close,” Youngjae replies, rubbing his hands together with a smile. “What pirates would we be if we didn’t take a ship every now and then?”

//

After talking through the plan with the crew, Youngjae returns to his cabin. The young man pulled one of the chairs to the large windows. He sits in the chair, his legs brought up to his chest, and stares up at the stars quietly. If Youngjae squints at the glass’s reflection, he thinks he can see longing in the young man’s eyes.

“I see you finished eating,” Youngjae says, glancing at the empty tray on his desk.

The young man jumps, nearly falling out of the chair.

“Sorry,” Youngjae says, pulling another chair across from him. “Did you feel like talking now?”

The young man gulps. He blinks, and he almost looks like he wants to say something, but nothing comes out of his mouth.

Youngjae nods. He gets up from the chair and takes the tray.

“Daehyun.”

His voice is so soft, Youngjae isn’t even sure he heard it. He spins around, and the young man is looking at him. “What?”

“My name is Daehyun,” he says, a little louder this time.

Youngjae puts the tray back on his desk and sits down. “Daehyun, huh?”

Daehyun nods. He has his hands in his lap, threading shaking fingers together.

“What made you think it was okay to crash in the middle of my ship?” Youngjae asks.

“W-what?” Daehyun blinks.

Youngjae scoffs. It’s late, he’s tired, he’s been working since early this morning, and he’s had _enough_ of this. “Spare me the act. Did someone send you? Was it Zico?”

“N-no, I––“

“I don’t care _who_ or _what_ you are,” Youngjae says through gritted teeth, “I don’t care _where_ you came from, just tell me the _truth_.”

“That _is_ the truth!” Daehyun replies, his voice growing louder with each word. His eyes pierce cold daggers into Youngjae. “Do you think I _wanted_ to be knocked out of the sky?!”

Youngjae’s thoughts just stop to a grinding halt for a full five seconds. He stares at Daehyun, and the pieces just fall into place. “The sky… You’re a fallen _star_.”

Daehyun nods, exasperated. “You _finally_ get it! What did you _think_ I was?”

“I don’t know, a weird witch or something,” Youngjae replies with a shrug, and Daehyun looks unimpressed. “What? I don’t keep up with witch fashion trends.”

Daehyun opens his mouth to reply, but snaps it shut and turns back to look out the window.

Youngjae leans back in his chair, running his hand through his hair as he continues to process this new information. The original plan was to drop off Daehyun in Lunaris while Youngjae left with his crew on a used ship, but now that he knows Daehyun is a star… People will pay a lot of crowns for a fallen star. Enough for a fancy ship with machine guns and cannons that work one hundred percent of the time.

Youngjae stands up from his chair, stretching his arms above his head. He may be tired, but that doesn’t mean his job is over yet. He has to tell Jongup. He turns to Daehyun with a forced smile. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as he closes the door, Youngjae takes off running to find Jongup. He can barely keep his excitement contained. A _star_ fell right into their laps. Sure, he tore a hole through the middle of their ship, but they needed a new ship anyway.

Youngjae finds Jongup at the small desk by the helm with a flashlight in his hand, studying Halosis battleship flight patterns.

“Good news,” Youngjae says, patting Jongup’s shoulder.

“You salvaged more food in the galley,” Jongup replies without looking up.

Youngjae shakes his head. “Better.”

“What could be better than more food when we’re rationing?” Jongup asks, his voice devoid of any and all emotion. Youngjae takes note to give him a nice dinner when they reach Lunaris.

“He’s a fallen star,” Youngjae says, bringing a hand up to grip Jongup’s sleeve. “A _fallen star_ , Jongup. Do you know what this _means?”_

Jongup slowly lifts his head and turns to look at Youngjae. “We’ll be rich.”

Youngjae grins so wide, he thinks his face might split. “We can get those fancy electrical navigation systems for you _and_ better machine guns for Junhong.”

Youngjae can see that Jongup’s imagining it, and he knows Jongup is sold. Then he’s frowning, and the fantasy is suddenly snuffed out.

“He’s still a _person_ , though, isn’t he?” Jongup asks.

Youngjae frowns back at him. “No, he isn’t. He’s just a _star_.”

Jongup sighs and turns back to the map. “You’re right. We could use the crowns.”

Youngjae nods and pats Jongup’s back again. “We’ll tell the rest of the crew tomorrow morning.”

Youngjae makes his way back to his cabin. When he opens the door, Daehyun still sits in the chair, looking up at the stars.

“Do you like what you see?” Youngjae asks.

Daehyun looks away from the window at Youngjae, his face carefully neutral. “I just…want to go home.”

Youngjae feels a pang of guilt shoot through him, but he knows what his choices are, and he’ll pick his crew over everything else. He sits down next to Daehyun. “We’ll be reaching Lunaris in about a week. I know a couple guys there who know a thing or two about space. I can talk to them about letting you aboard their ship and getting you back home.”

When Daehyun smiles, Youngjae swears he almost goes blind.

//

When they cross another ship the next day, Youngjae wastes no time flagging it down. It isn’t a Halosis battleship by any means––it’s a tiny salvaging vessel––but he can’t be picky when his ship is barely hanging on as it is.

“Hi, do you mind helping us out here? We’re in a bit of a pinch,” he says once he gets them on the radio. He doesn’t know why he lowers his voice when talking to other men. Something about _male camaraderie_ or something.

“What’s the problem?” comes the reply.

“Well, my crew…” He pauses for dramatic effect. “Our ship’s fallin’ apart. We’re not sure if we can make it to the closest port.”

“You sound like an idiot!” Junhong shouts down the corridor.

Youngjae switches off his microphone before shouting back with a quick, “Shut up, or I’ll throw you into Neptune’s asshole!”

“Unfortunately, we won’t be able to bring on your entire crew in my small ship, but we can spare some supplies.”

Youngjae switches his microphone back on. “That’s fine. Anything would be a great help. Thank you.”

“Alright, you can come on over as soon as we set up a bridge.”

Youngjae switches off the radio and turns to Jongup with a victorious smile.“Worked like a charm.”

“What was with the weird accent? Aren’t you from the old west coast?” Jongup asks.

Youngjae shrugs as he brushes past Jongup. “And you’re from New New York, but I’m not saying anything about that. Come on, we got things to do before they connect ships.”

First stop: Junhong.

Youngjae knocks on the door leading to the firearms storage. “Make sure you’re up on deck. When these goons fire at us, Vega _will_ go down, and I don’t want anyone from my crew dying today, got it?”

Junhong finishes loading his rifle and slings it across his back. “Got it.”

Second stop: Daehyun.

Youngjae peeks inside his cabin to find Daehyun slipping into a pair of boots, already dressed in the clothes Junhong lent him: a loose cream shirt tucked into a pair of black pants. “I need you ready to leave and out on deck in a couple minutes.”

Daehyun only nods as he finishes tying the laces.

Youngjae steps out onto the deck with Jongup beside him. The other ship has already set up the bridge. He puts on a friendly smile as he waves to the other ship.

"Come on over!" the captain exclaims.

The wind whips around Youngjae and Jongup as they cross the tiny bridge connecting the two ships. They're met with three men once they board. They look vaguely European. The one in the middle must be the captain, his eyes lined with kindness, and his skin wrinkled and leathered from the countless years out under the sun. The other two are younger and much more cautious than their captain; Youngjae notes the fancy pistols in holsters on their hips.

"Bit of a large ship there, ain't it?" the captain asks.

“It was a gift from my late grandfather,” Youngjae replies with a sad smile. He only sees three men, but a salvaging crew typically has five. Where are the other two?

The captain smiles. "While we wait for the rest of my men to bring you some supplies, why don’t we chat for a bit?”

The one on the left frowns. "But, Captain––"

"They're our _guests_ , Arthur, and we will treat them accordingly," the captain interrupts in a stern tone, and Arthur backs down.

Youngjae almost feels bad that he has to kill them so soon.

“So, where y’all from?" the captain asks.

“San Francisco,” Youngjae replies easily. It isn't a complete lie because he lived there for a couple months while growing up, so that's gotta count for something, right?

The captain shakes his head with a small smile. "Sorry, I meant... _What_ are you?”

Youngjae knew this question would come up eventually––it always does––because they see the tawny skin, the almond-shaped eyes, and the raven hair, so they don’t know where to pin him down, but that doesn't mean he isn't tired of it.

“Asian,” Youngjae almost spits the word out, but he forces himself to stay civil about it.

The two men begin whispering to the captain, but Youngjae thinks he can pick up quiet phrases like "shouldn't be out here" and "look like a pair of dolls”.

And Youngjae suddenly doesn't feel so bad anymore.

He feels an elbow press against his ribs, and he glances at Jongup. His eyes tell him to hold back and control himself before the crew is ready to attack. So he clenches his teeth behind a tight-lipped smile.

"Captain, we got the supplies for them!" a voice calls from the lower deck.

"Bring it up!" the captain replies.

Two more men come up from the lower deck holding metal crates full of food, medical, and hardware supplies.

"Thank you so much," Youngjae says as the men begin walking the bridge connecting the ships. He drops the accent and continues, "But I'm afraid we'll have to cut our conversation short." Confusion washes over all their faces. He shouts, "Now!"

Youngjae doesn't have time to see his crew emerge from where they’re hiding. He draws his sword, burying it deep inside the one named Arthur. Jongup shoots the man on the other side. Shouts erupt behind Youngjae. Swords clash. Bullets go flying.

Youngjae quickly takes his sword out of Arthur. He turns to the captain. He doesn’t register the fear in his eyes. He doesn’t hear his quickening pulse. He only sees an obstacle that needs to be removed. The captain stands his ground and draws his own sword from its scabbard.

“So you’re the bird who’s been taking down ships lately,” he huffs.

Youngjae shakes his head. “You got the wrong pirate, old man. I’m just a bolt-chaser.”

“Then why?” The captain frowns. Youngjae sees his knuckles turn white.

“Our ship really _is_ falling apart,” Youngjae replies, pushing the captain closer to the edge. He can tell he doesn’t practice much with swords. A step, twist, and jab bring it clattering to the deck. Once the captain’s back hits the metal rail, Youngjae smiles. He presses the tip of his sword right against his neck. “Sorry it’s gotta end this way, old man.”

“No! Don’t kill him!”

Startled, Youngjae sees Daehyun standing on Vega’s deck with wide eyes. He clutches the rail, his silver hair whipping around him.

“Noah, the cannon!” the captain shouts. He pushes Youngjae’s sword away and stumbles to the cabin.

Before Youngjae can chase after him, a single shot rings out. Bright red blood blooms from the captain’s back and he falls to the ground. Youngjae turns to see Jongup behind him, smoke still coming from the barrel of his pistol.

Youngjae lets out a breath. “Tha––“

The ship pitches to the side as a deafening boom sounds. A cannon ball lodges into the side of Vega, pushing him away from the other ship. Youngjae falls to the floor. The world rings. He hears muffled shouts.

“Daehyun,” Youngjae whispers.

He gets to his feet and makes his way to the bridge. Daehyun stands on the other side, completely terrified.

“Youngjae!” Daehyun shouts, but he sounds a hundred miles away.

Youngjae takes deep breaths. The ships are disconnected, but if he jumps, he might just make it to Vega. Without another thought, he runs across the bridge. Vega is within reach. Daehyun is a couple steps within his grasp.

“Youngjae!”

_Jongup_ , Youngjae thinks. He glances back and sees Jongup staring at him with wide confused eyes. “I’m getting Daehyun!”

“But––“

Youngjae doesn’t hear him. He’s already jumping across the gap. He kicks his legs in open air. The entire world is quiet. Daehyun is right ahead of him.

Youngjae hits the deck with his shoulder. He groans. The pain spreads down his arm and up his neck. Daehyun kneels at his side, shouting something, but the world is still ringing. Youngjae opens his eyes and sees the other ship, but it’s too far away now.

Wild Vega is going down. They won’t be able to make it back.

Youngjae gets to his feet and grabs onto the rail. “Jongup!”

His blond head sticks out.

“Lunaris! Two weeks!”

Jongup nods.

Daehyun comes up behind Youngjae. “What are _we_ supposed to do, then?”

“This is still a ship, isn’t it?” Youngjae asks as he grabs Daehyun’s hand. Uncertainty courses through him. Vega hasn’t landed in water in a while, but it’s their only choice at this point. “I’m gonna need you to take over the helm while I prepare the rudder.”

“Wait, but I don’t know––“

Youngjae places Daehyun’s hands on the wheel. “Just keep it like this, alright?”

Daehyun gulps, but he nods.

Youngjae turns to the crank at the very back of the ship. Getting the rudder in place is usually a two person job, but Youngjae has nobody else right now. He begins pushing it with his entire weight. It’s just barely enough. It’s a slow process, but it begins to move. When Vega dives into the clouds, Youngjae can barely see in front of him.

“Youngjae!” Daehyun shouts, his voice quivering. “I can’t see!”

“Just keep holding onto the wheel!” Youngjae replies. “We’ll be fine if you do!”

Time slows down. Youngjae doesn’t know how much time passes, but he focuses on the crank. Mist whips at his face and he has to close his eyes. The crank stops with a sudden _thunk_ at the same time they break out of the clouds. Youngjae is momentarily blinded by the light, but he forces open his eyes. He peers over the edge to see the rudder in place. He looks over at Daehyun and finds him frozen at the wheel, his knuckles white.

“I got it,” Youngjae says, easing Daehyun’s hands off the wheel.

Daehyun turns to Youngjae, still terrified.

Youngjae pats Daehyun’s back. “You did good! Now, hold onto something while we land.”

Vega catches a dip in the wind, throwing Daehyun into the air. Youngjae catches him before he flies off. With nowhere else to put Daehyun, Youngjae wraps Daehyun’s arms around his waist. He can feel Daehyun press his face into his shoulder.

Youngjae grips the wheel, digging his heels into the deck, and prepares for the landing.

The trick to landing in water, Youngjae learned, is to make wide circles to slow down enough for a smooth landing. Except there’s no water beneath them. The ocean is a sparkling blue speck in the horizon. He isn’t sure if they’ll make it.

“Come on, Vega, don’t let your captain down. Give us five more minutes,” Youngjae urges, but the cannon ball is adding too much weight. Vega can’t handle it. The ocean doesn’t look any closer. “Maybe ten more.”

“To your right!” Daehyun exclaims. “A lake!”

Out of the corner of Youngjae’s eyes, he sees a massive body of water. He glances at the navigation table. If Jongup was right about their location…

“That’s not a lake,” Youngjae says, already spinning the wheel, “that’s the Mediterranean Sea.”

Vega veers to the right, creaking and groaning the whole way. Vega is falling fast, and the Mediterranean Sea is a lot closer than Youngjae would like. They’re gonna have a rough landing, but he can’t complain when the next body of water is completely out of reach.

“Hold on!” is all Youngjae can let out before Vega hits the water.

Daehyun lets out a squeak that’s buried in Youngjae’s shoulder.

Youngjae squeezes his eyes shut.

The following moments are completely silent.

Youngjae opens his eyes to peaceful waves. The sun’s reflection glints off the surface, shining into his eyes. Vibrant green mountains climb up from the horizon, sandwiched between two pieces of never-ending blue. He starts to move, but Daehyun holds his back, his arms still wrapped tightly around Youngjae’s waist.

Youngjae taps Daehyun’s hands gently. “Hey, open your eyes.”

Daehyun lifts his head, and Youngjae hears the gasp that comes out of Daehyun’s mouth. He unlatches himself from Youngjae and darts to the rail. “So this is Earth?”

“The one and only,” Youngjae says.

“It’s… It’s beautiful.”

This is a different Daehyun that Youngjae is seeing right now. Different from the scared, broken light looking up at the stars last night. Fascination and wonder permeate Daehyun’s very being. The silver in both his eyes and hair glimmer in the sunlight.

“Alright, we gotta find a town to port, then find a ship to Lunaris,” Youngjae says, hopping down to the main deck.

When Daehyun turns to Youngjae, the smile on his face is nearly blinding.

Youngjae’s never seen a star in real life, but he thinks this one might be alright.

Vega began to sink before Youngjae could find a town to port, so he threw whatever he could into the tiny rowboat attached to Vega’s side, sat Daehyun inside it, and lowered them down. Ten minutes later, Youngjae sat in the rowboat, watching Vega sink further into the water. When the Wild Vega was nothing left but a handful of bubbles on the water’s surface, Youngjae began rowing the boat to the shore.

“Can’t we just rest a bit longer?” Daehyun asks when Youngjae begins packing the things in the boat into a large knapsack.

Youngjae frowns. The sun is high in the sky already. Right now is the perfect time to start moving. “We have to cover as much ground as we can before nightfall.”

“But I’m tired,” Daehyun says with a yawn.

“It’s the middle of the day!” Youngjae exclaims.

Daehyun crosses his arms in an act of childish defiance. “I’m a _star!_ What do you think I do during the day?”

Youngjae flaps his mouth like a fish for a moment, not knowing how to reply. He’s never met a star before. “I… I don’t know, what _do_ you do?”

“I sleep!” Daehyun exclaims, annoyed. “I can’t keep this up for much longer!”

Youngjae’s never seen a star in real life, but he thinks he may have judged this one too quickly.

“You sure don’t sound like it,” Youngjae mutters, dropping the last of the supplies into the knapsack.

“What was that?” Daehyun asks.

Youngjae looks into Daehyun’s angry gray eyes and spits, “You heard me.”

Daehyun’s mouth drops, and a few indignant squeaks come out. He quickly regains his composure and clears his throat. “Get out. Go find your town by yourself. I’m keeping the boat.”

Youngjae frowns. He can’t leave Daehyun by himself. He needs Daehyun for that new ship. “But––“

“You heard me,” Daehyun says, and grabs the oars.

Youngjae raises an eyebrow in surprise, but he doesn’t say anything else. He steps onto a low outcrop of rock, and pushes the boat with his foot. Daehyun will realize that he needs Youngjae one way or another. He’s a _star_. What does a _star_ know about Earth?

“Be careful of the sharks,” Youngjae calls out. He’s bluffing, but Daehyun doesn’t have to know that.

Daehyun brings the oars back into the boat and stares at Youngjae with eyes blown wide with fear. “What sharks?”

“They’re native to this area. Pretty big, too,” Youngjae replies. He scrunches his face in disgust. “They can get really nasty if they smell food.”

Daehyun freezes.

“Do you still want to keep the boat?” Youngjae asks.

Daehyun looks around himself, suddenly and extremely unsure about himself. Youngjae can see it in his eyes, and he knows he won.

“Not…really,” Daehyun says.

Youngjae takes off his knapsack and throws it onto the boat. “Catch!”

Daehyun stutters, but he manages to keep the knapsack from falling into the water. “Wha––“

Before Daehyun can continue, Youngjae jumps into the water with a laugh and climbs onto the boat. “I hope you know how to swim.”

“But the sharks!” Daehyun exclaims.

Youngjae begins rowing closer to the shore. “There are no sharks.”

“You’re unbelievable!” Daehyun exclaims, but Youngjae ignores him.

It takes Youngjae almost thirty minutes to reach the shore, but Daehyun’s already asleep by fifteen. Youngjae frowns, putting the oars down. The waves rock the boat gently as he stares at Daehyun’s sleeping face. Reaching the shore is useless with Daehyun like this. Youngjae takes one of the oars and a large cloak from his knapsack, and begins making a sail.

//

Evening falls and Youngjae still hasn’t found a town or city to port. He hasn’t even found a village. At this point, he doesn’t think he’ll find anything. To his left, an endless strip of green shore. To his right, an endless blue ocean meeting an endless blue sky at the horizon. Endless. Infinite. Never-ending. With a sigh, Youngjae takes down his sail and begins rowing towards the shore. By the time he gets there, the sun will be behind the horizon.

When the oars hit sand, Youngjae gets out of the boat and begins tugging it onto the beach. He’ll have to make a fire, look for food, cook the food…

“Where are we?”

Youngjae looks up to see Daehyun sitting up in the boat, bleary-eyed and confused. Youngjae shrugs. “Not sure.”

“What do you mean?” Daehyun asks with a yawn.

“I don’t know where we are,” Youngjae replies. When the boat is finally out of the waves, Youngjae drags it further up on the beach so it doesn’t get washed away in the high tide. “I wasn’t able to find a town, so we’ll have to camp out tonight.”

“How unfortunate,” Daehyun says as he steps out of the boat.

“Hey, you aren’t the one doing all the work around here,” Youngjae says. He begins digging a pit in the sand for the fire. “I’m the one who took care of you while you slept the entire day.”

Daehyun stands in front of Youngjae, stunned for a moment. “It’s in my nature to sleep when the sun is out!”

Youngjae ignores Daehyun to gather stray pieces of driftwood.

“Why are you ignoring me?!” Daehyun exclaims. He begins to follow Youngjae. “I’m not completely useless, okay? Hey, _listen_ to me!”

Youngjae spins around, his anger already past its boiling point. “You wanna know something? We wouldn’t be here if you were already on that salvaging ship earlier! _I_ wouldn’t be here if you didn’t crash into my ship! So, yeah, I’m a little stressed out right now!”

Daehyun takes a step back from Youngjae, trembling. His eyes are glassy and watery with unshed tears. He grinds his teeth like he’s stopping himself from crying or retaliating in anger. Youngjae blinks, just now realizing the weight of what he just said. Daehyun takes a deep breath, his fists clenched at his sides, and turns around to walk back to the boat.

Youngjae considers calling out to Daehyun, but continues gathering wood instead. He knows that what he said was harsh, but he also knows that it was true. Neither of them would be here right now if it weren’t for Daehyun.

When Youngjae returns to the boat, he finds Daehyun sitting inside it with his legs brought up to his chest. His shoulders tremble. He looks a lot like the scared broken light from last night again.

Youngjae drops the driftwood into the pit and grabs his witchcraft book from his knapsack. He knows he has a fire-casting spell in here somewhere. It’s just a matter of finding the right spell. He furrows his eyebrows in frustration. Between the muddled pages and fading sunlight, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to find it in time. With a groan, he throws the book back into his bag.

Suddenly, the beach lights up. Youngjae looks up from his pile of driftwood to find Daehyun cradling a small white flame in his hands.

“How did you…?” Youngjae can’t finish his sentence. He’s too entranced by the brilliance.

“It’s a fragment of my light,” Daehyun replies. He wipes the tears off his cheeks with one hand and gets out of the boat. “You need a fire, right?”

Youngjae nods.

Daehyun crouches down beside Youngjae and places the flame in the middle of the pile. The moment it touches the wood, it begins burning bright blue and lavender and engulfs the wood. Daehyun turns to Youngjae with a small smile on his face. “I told you I’m not completely useless.”

“Thanks.” Youngjae finds himself smiling back. He looks down at the fire, then back at Daehyun. “Hey, I’m sorry.”

Daehyun still looks unsure, and Youngjae doesn’t mind if Daehyun is still upset. He just wants Daehyun to know that he _is_ sorry. Daehyun’s smile falters and he looks into the fire. “I…um, I accept your apology.”

It’s better than nothing.

Youngjae stands up, stretching his arms above his head. “Well, I better look for food, then.”

Daehyun nods, and Youngjae heads into the brush further inland.

“Hey, Youngjae?” Daehyun calls out.

“Yeah?” Youngjae asks, turning around.

“Can I…come with you?” Daehyun asks, his voice quiet and unsure. He quickly adds, “Since, you know, it’s more dangerous if you go alone, and it’s getting darker, so you’d probably need light to see where––“

Youngjae smiles. “Sure, come on.”

Daehyun lets out a breath and stands up to meet Youngjae.

They walk for ten minutes and all they’ve come across so far is a patch of wild berries and more wood for the fire. Their shadows bounce everywhere with every step they take. In a way, Youngjae is glad for the light because he wouldn’t have found the berries without it, but he also thinks it’s scaring away any animals he was thinking of catching.

“So, how exactly does that work?” Youngjae asks, tucking a couple branches into the bunch underneath his arm. He points to the white flame floating above Daehyun’s head. “I know it’s…your light, and all that, but what else can you do with it?”

Daehyun shrugs, pursing his lips in thought. “I don’t use it too often. I heard that if a star splits it like this too much, though, it’ll eventually burn out. ”

Youngjae steps over a boulder embedded into the ground. “What happens after that?”

Daehyun shrugs again. “I don’t know. I was never curious enough to try it.”

“Is it enough to… Like, I don’t know…severely damage a star?” Youngjae asks.

Daehyun goes silent. Youngjae wonders if he struck a sensitive nerve with that. When he glances at Daehyun, his face is devoid of all emotion.

“Hey, I think I can hear a creek nearby,” Youngjae says to pick up the conversation again. “Do you like fish?”

“I’ve never tried it,” Daehyun says.

“Let’s go catch some fish.” Youngjae follows the sounds of a babbling creek, hopping over a fallen tree trunk.

//

Two days pass, and they find nothing. They pass by ancient cities crumbling beneath tree roots and thick ivy. They pass by creaking and rusted metal frames of civilizations long gone.

It’s early morning on the third day, and Youngjae lays down in the boat because he’s sure they won’t find anything today. He’d like to say that he’ll go wherever the wind takes him, but a deadline looms over their heads, and he’d like to get back to his crew as soon as possible.

“What’s that over there?” Daehyun asks, pointing at something in the distance.

Youngjae leans up on his elbows and cranes his neck to see what Daehyun is pointing at. He holds his hand above his eyes to block out the sun, and sees something on an outcrop of rock.

“I think…” Youngjae squints his eyes. Four figures sit on the rock, their scaly tails glimmering in the sunlight. “Mermaids.”

“Do you think they’ll be able to help us?” Daehyun asks.

“Probably not,” Youngjae asks. He’s come across plenty of mermaids before, and none of them were trustworthy. They all tried to eat him and his crew.

“How are you so sure?” Daehyun asks. He begins moving the sail towards the group of mermaids.

Youngjae shrugs, settling back down, and closes his eyes. Daehyun can learn how difficult mermaids are the hard way. Youngjae hears distant giggling––four distinct voices––the closer they get.

“Marina, look.”

“What is it?”

“A single man? Is he even worth it?”

“Shh, he approaches.”

The boat bumps against the rock, and Youngjae jolts.

“Hello?” Daehyun begins, his voice unsure but still friendly.

The mermaids reply with a chorus of melodious greetings.

“Do you mind helping me out?” Daehyun asks, and Youngjae almost scoffs at the idea of mermaids actually _helping_ them.

“Of course. Anything for a handsome man like you,” one of the mermaids coos. “Whatever it is you need, we can and will provide.”

Youngjae cracks open his eyes. He sees a scaly hand reaching up to twirl Daehyun’s silver strands in its fingertips. It’s a little unnerving. He’s just waiting for them to shed the pretty masks.

“Well, my…friend and I are wondering if there’s a town nearby. We’re trying to get to Lunaris,” Daehyun says.

Another mermaid interrupts with a pronounced _tsk_. “Lunaris? That’s _much_ too far. Leave your friend and stay with _us_ , darling. You’d make a lovely meal.”

Youngjae frowns. Mermaids never were subtle creatures.

Daehyun begins stuttering. “Um, wait, no––“

“This isn’t up for negotiation, darling.”

“Y-Youngjae, hel––“

Youngjae opens his eyes and sees the mermaids already have their hands on Daehyun. Their serpentine tongues flick at his skin. Their sunken eyes are wide with delirium.

“I told you,” Youngjae says, taking his knife out of his boot.

Daehyun pushes bared fangs away from his face. “Okay, I know, I know, just _help_ me!”

Youngjae stands up and grabs a mermaid by her slimy hair, throwing his to the side. “Hey! Leave him alone!”

The rest of the mermaids turn away from Daehyun to look at Youngjae. The disgust in their eyes morphs into hunger. Youngjae tightens his grip on his knife.

“Another man?”

“Another _meal!”_

The mermaids lunge at Youngjae, clawing at the boat. Youngjae struggles to keep his balance as the waves rock the boat. Daehyun yelps in panic, his hands flying to grip the sides. Youngjae steps on one of the mermaid’s heads to get to the rock. They move away from the boat and flock to him.

“Daehyun, my sword!” Youngjae exclaims.

Daehyun throws it, but it falls short and clatters into the water. “Shit, sorry!”

Youngjae takes a deep breath to calm himself. He jams his knife into the neck of the first mermaid that lunges at him with rotten teeth bared. He almost gags at the rancid croak that blows against his face. He shoves the mermaid into the other three, kicking them away. One brings his sword up from underwater. Youngjae plucks it out of her hands before she can take it out of its scabbard.

Youngjae takes the mermaids down in six swift moves. Their bodies tumble off the rock and into the water, their blood washing off the rocks with each lapping wave. He steps back into the boat, sinking into his seat with a sigh. Daehyun looks at his with shame in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Daehyun whispers.

Youngjae waves his hand dismissively. “It’s okay. You didn’t know, but now we know not to disturb the mermaids, right?”

Daehyun nods.

“Too bad they didn’t tell us anything about a town,” Youngjae says, slumping even further.

Daehyun doesn’t reply, but he looks into the distance.

“What’s wrong?” Youngjae asks. He follows Daehyun’s gaze and gasps. Just beyond the cape, he can see the silhouettes of buildings. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yeah, probably,” Daehyun replies quietly.

Youngjae grins and sits up as he checks the wind. It’s blowing them right to the town. He’s sure Neptune is watching over them right now.

//

When Youngjae pulls his boat to the shore, he sees the village is incredibly average. A handful of buildings cluster around a dock with houses trailing a little farther up a hill.

“Come on, Daehyun, you can sleep later. We have things to do,” Youngjae says as he trudges up the sand dune to the village.

Daehyun mumbles something under his breath, but he’s right behind Youngjae.

The entire place is bustling when they walk to the small village square. The streets are lined with stalls, full of people buying and selling food and other wares. Amazing scents reach Youngjae’s nose. Idle chatter reaches his ears. It amazes him that this many people live in such a small village.

Youngjae begins wandering down a street, enticed by the scent of fresh-baked pastries, but Daehyun holds him back.

“Can we rest before you start exploring?” Daehyun asks. He yawns.

Youngjae looks around for a moment. A lone bench stands in front of the inn. He drags Daehyun to it and sits his down. “Stay here, alright? I’ll be back soon.”

Daehyun almost looks like he wants to protest, but he yawns again before he can say anything.

Youngjae smiles at him, then looks for the stall with the pastries. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of coins. He counts twenty and frowns. He hopes he has enough to buy _something_ for breakfast. He walks up to a stall selling pastries and bread. The woman behind the table smiles at him. She’s tall enough to brush the roof of the tent even while sitting down.

“Good morning,” she says with a kind smile, “how can I help you?”

Youngjae sifts through the coins in his pocket. “You got anything I can buy for a couple crowns?”

“Define a couple,” the woman says with a raised eyebrow.

Youngjae takes the handful of coins from his pocket and shows them to her.

She purses his lips, then the smile returns. “Two blueberry buns and four rolls for eight crowns.”

It’s cheap, and if it tastes as good as it smells, then he’s sold. He hands eight crowns to the woman and she hands him the food.

“Actually,” Youngjae says just before he walks out, “I have a question.”

The woman doesn’t reply, but she waits expectantly.

“Are there any skyships that pass by here? I need to get to Lunaris,” Youngjae says.

The woman looks up thoughtfully, her hair brushing against the tent’s roof. “Hmm. You just missed a trade ship yesterday, but who knows? You might be lucky, and another one will come through today.”

It isn’t very encouraging information, but Youngjae smiles anyway. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Youngjae takes one of the blueberry buns out of the paper bag and chews on it thoughtfully. What are the chances another ship will come to this tiny village in the middle of near nowhere? He figures pretty slim. He has a week and a half left, but it takes at least a week to reach Lunaris from here. He doesn’t know what to do, and he doesn’t have a way to communicate with Jongup either.

“Young man,” a voice calls out.

Youngjae stops in front of a stall selling potions and herbs. The old woman behind the table is blind, but it feels like she’s looking straight at Youngjae.

“Did… Did you mean me?” Youngjae asks.

“Of course,” the old woman replies. She coughs, wet and full of phlegm. “Who else would I be talking to?”

And Youngjae realizes that while he was too busy with his own thoughts, the world had frozen around him. It’s eerily quiet. Not a person moves except for Youngjae and this old woman.

“You are not from here, are you,” the old woman says. It isn’t a question, but it also isn’t an accusation.

Youngjae looks into the old woman’s milky, unseeing eyes. The tone of her voice tells Youngjae she doesn’t just mean the village.

“You were born on earthly soil,” the old woman continues. She points a shaking bony finger at Youngjae’s chest. “But your heart belongs to the sky.”

Youngjae shrugs. The old woman isn’t wrong. “So?”

“You possess something that belongs to the sky, do you not?” the old woman asks. She moves her finger to point up. “I can hear the sky whispering to me. They say you must be careful with him. You must protect him.”

She’s talking about Daehyun, Youngjae knows it.

The old man reaches into a bag behind his and pulls out a vial. Inside it is a bright blue potion, almost fluorescent. “This is a transportation potion. It will return him home.”

Youngjae takes the vial with a frown, then looks at the other potions on display. He can’t afford to buy this tiny thing. The price is too high. “But I don’t have––“

“How about an equiEunkwangent exchange?” the old woman interrupts. “A lock of hair will suffice.”

Youngjae’s hand goes up to twist the short strands in his fingertips. Knowing witches, she could do anything with something as personal as his hair. Youngjae puts the vial back on the table with an uneasy smile.

“Sorry, but I don’t really need––“

“You _will_ take it,” the old woman hisses.

“ _Okay_ , I’ll take it,” Youngjae says. He’s a little skeptical, but he knows better than to say no to a witch. He takes his knife out and cuts a small lock of hair.

The old woman holds her hand out, and Youngjae reluctantly places the hair in her waiting palm.

“Thank you,” the old woman says, closing her hand into a fist.

The image is more than a little unsettling, but Youngjae has to pocket the vial anyway.

“It does not matter if you do not believe me,” the old woman says as she drops the lock of hair into a tiny bag. “But he will know when to drink it.”

“Alright,” Youngjae says. He walks away from the stall, giving the old woman one last glance before the world begins to move again. He sighs as he walks back to Daehyun, but the vial weighs heavy in his pocket. “He’ll know when to drink it, huh? What if I never give it to him in the first place?”

When Youngjae reaches Daehyun, he sleeps on the bench with his legs pulled up tight to his chest. He almost looks ethereal with the sun shining down on him, and his silver hair splayed out around him like a halo. If Youngjae looks closely, he can see glimmering freckles on Daehyun’s tawny cheeks, twinkling like stars across his nose and cheeks.

For a small moment, Youngjae is completely entranced. For a small moment, he wonders what would happen if he didn’t trade this star for a new ship.

Then, he thinks about his crew and the ship they currently don’t have, and he places his hand on Daehyun’s shoulder to wake him up.

//

Youngjae gets a room at the inn with the rest of his crowns so Daehyun has somewhere to sleep. The entire day rolls by without another strange event. Youngjae wanders through the rest of the stalls, and he discovers that this is a festival in tribute to the local goddess. In the evening, he walks back to the boat and lies down on the sand beside it. He watches the sky turn vibrant pinks and oranges, then a deep indigo as the moon begins its slow ascent.

Stars begin to appear, twinkling into existence in the sky, and Youngjae reaches into his pocket, taking out the vial. He holds it up in front of him, the bright blue liquid almost glowing behind the glass.

What if Youngjae drinks it instead of Daehyun? The witch said it will take Daehyun home, but where will it take Youngjae? If he drinks it, will he even have a home to go to? He sighs and puts it back into his pocket.

“Youngjae?”

With a gasp, Youngjae bolts up. Daehyun walks towards his with arms full of _something_. It’s too dim to make out anything definitive, but his back is lit up with the warm lantern lights from the festival.

“Hey. What are you doing out?” Youngjae asks, sitting up fully.

Daehyun scoffs and sits down beside Youngjae. “Am I not allowed to explore the town like you can?”

Youngjae raises an eyebrow, feeling the first bits of annoyance begin to bubble in his chest, but he holds it back. “Okay, you don’t need to––“

“I wasn’t being serious,” Daehyun says with a small smile. “You weren’t in the room when I woke up, so I went walking around.”

Youngjae rolls his eyes. He nods to the bulk in Daehyun’s arms. “What are you holding?”

Daehyun places a small drawstring bag in front of Youngjae in the sand. Youngjae opens up the bag and looks inside. There’s candy, bread in a paper bag, packages of dried meat, and other things he can’t identify properly in the dark.

“How’d you get all this?” Youngjae asks, staring at Daehyun incredulously. “You don’t have any crowns on you.”

Daehyun shrugs, but Youngjae can practically _see_ the smug smile on Daehyun’s face when he replies with a sly, “They just kept giving me food.”

Youngjae laughs, nibbling on a piece of candy. “You’re _sneaky_.”

Daehyun’s own laugh joins Youngjae’s. He snaps his fingers and a tiny white flame begins to flicker above his fingertips. Youngjae squints as his eyes adjust. He lies back down on the warm sand. Daehyun keeps the flame afloat above their heads and lies down beside Youngjae.

“They were all really nice,” Daehyun whispers, sounding like he’s truly touched by their actions.

Youngjae thinks back to the woman whose stall was barely big enough to fit her and her kind smile, but then he thinks back to himself and how ready he was to kill the captain of that salvaging vessel. Eager, even. He chews on the candy. “Not everybody is as nice as the people in this town.”

“I know,” Daehyun replies.

A tense silence falls in between them, a void filled only by the sound of crashing waves and distant chattering and music. Youngjae glances at Daehyun in the corner of his eye. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that Daehyun looks peaceful gazing up at the stars.

“Which one were you?” Youngjae suddenly asks.

Daehyun turns to look at Youngjae. “What?”

“I mean,” Youngjae points to the indigo sky, “you had your own place up there, right? Where was it?”

Daehyun turns back to the sky with a hum. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, then points straight ahead at a tiny patch of empty sky. “There. I was in the Lyra constellation. I’m not one of the stars who make up the constellation itself. I’m not important enough, but it’s still nice.”

Something bittersweet hides in Daehyun’s voice, but Youngjae doesn’t say anything about it.

“The constellation stars are all stuck-up, anyway,” Daehyun says. He draws in a deep breath, holding it in for a tense second before letting it all out in a rush.

Youngjae wonders if the stars can see them from all the way up in their dark thrones, looking down on Earth like a bunch of gods. Can they hear Daehyun right now? What do they think of him? Do they miss him? Do they even know he’s gone? Do they want him back? Does _he_ even want to go back? Youngjae can’t tell just from looking at Daehyun now with his hands folded across his middle.

“In a way… I guess I’m glad I’m not there anymore,” Daehyun says so quietly Youngjae doesn’t think he heard it correctly. “But I know I have to go back. It’s where I belong.”

Youngjae knows that sometimes saying nothing is better than anything at all. Where words fail, sometimes it’s better to let silence spill in between them.

Youngjae stands up and holds his hand out to Daehyun. He props himself up on his elbows and tilts his head, eyebrows furrowing. “What are you doing?”

“Nighttime boat ride,” Youngjae replies with a grin.

Daehyun looks skeptical, but he places his hand in Youngjae’s anyway. “Why––“

Youngjae pulls Daehyun up without a word and grabs the bag of food. “Come on, get in the boat.”

Daehyun sighs and steps into the boat. The flame follows right behind him like a tiny fairy.

“There you go,” Youngjae says and begins pushing the boat out further into the ocean. He gets in before the water rises too high and rows them out further from the shore.

“Why are we doing this?” Daehyun asks.

Youngjae shrugs. “Because I was getting a little bored and you looked a little miserable.”

Daehyun’s eyes widen in surprise, and he looks like he’s about to say something, but then he closes his mouth and settles on a pout instead. He crosses his arms over his chest and looks to the side.

Youngjae laughs.After a couple minutes, he brings the oars into the boat.

Daehyun stops pouting to look at Youngjae curiously. “Why did you stop rowing?”

“Turn off your light…thingy,” Youngjae says, pointing at the floating flame.

Daehyun raises an eyebrow, but he takes the flame and smothers it in between his palms. “Okay, now what?”

“We wait,” Youngjae replies. He waits for the blinking neon spots in his eyes to disappear before grabbing a roll of bread from the bag.

“For what?” Daehyun asks.

Youngjae bites into the bread, and around a mouthful of food, says, “You gotta wait and see.”

Daehyun huffs, but he doesn’t say anything else.

A couple minutes pass, and Youngjae sees it, faint but definitely there. A bright turquoise light twinkling just underneath the water’s surface. After the first one, others follow it, lighting up the ocean around them until they’re surrounded.

Daehyun gasps, looking over the edge of the boat. “What _are_ those things?”

Youngjae shrugs. “I’m not sure, but Jongup told me about them once. He picked up a book when we stopped by…Paris, I think? It’s called bio–– Biolumi… Biolumi-something. They only appear in the ocean at night.”

“They’re like entire _galaxies_ ,” Daehyun whispers. He dips his hand into the water carefully. “I had no idea these even existed.”

When Daehyun looks up from the water to Youngjae with a giddy grin on his face, his whole being bathed in turquoise light, Youngjae’s breath nearly stops. There are entire galaxies behind his eyes and freckled stars dancing on his skin, and Youngjae is sure nothing else in the sky looks more beautiful than this.

“This is _amazing_ ,” Daehyun whispers, glancing at Youngjae. “Thank you.”

Before Youngjae can reply, Daehyun’s smile turns into a terrified stare as he looks up.

“What’s wrong?” Youngjae asks, turning around to look at whatever Daehyun sees. His eyes widen when he sees the silhouette of a ship descend towards them. He puts the oars back in the water and begins rowing back to shore. “Alright, time to go back.”

A spotlight suddenly shines down on them like a beam straight from the heavens. Youngjae squints up, but it’s so bright and so close that he can’t make out a thing.

“What in _Neptune_ ––“

“Youngjae?!”

He knows that voice.

“Himchan?!”

//

When Youngjae was a child, Himchan was on Youngjae’s father’s ship as a cabin boy. His father picked him up somewhere in Egypt after breaking him out of a slave ship. He’s been indebted to Youngjae’s family ever since, even after he became the captain of his own ship.

Youngjae knows he can depend on Himchan if he has to.

“Glad to see you’re still alive,” Himchan says with a toothy smile as he steps onto the dock.

“Likewise.” Youngjae shakes his hand. “How’s the arm?”

Himchan shrugs, pulling his sleeve up to reveal the metal prosthetic. “I stopped by France for a new one a few months ago. It’s better than the one I picked up in Spain.”

“It looks good,” Youngjae says, admiring the arm. He knows Jongup would have loved to see this. He looks over Himchan’s arm and onto his ship. “Where’s Yongguk? Is he out again?”

Yongguk is a shapeshifting mage and Himchan’s partner… Or lover. They tend not to define what they have for reasons unknown to Youngjae. He’s seen Yongguk in a human form only a couple times, and the rest of the time, he’s either gone or in a bird’s body.

“Out doing recon,” Himchan replies, sliding his sleeve back down. He peeks over Youngjae’s shoulder at Daehyun. “And who’s the lovely young man behind you?”

“His name is––“

Himchan nudges Youngjae aside to stand in front of Daehyun. “He can introduce himself, Youngjae. He looks perfectly capable.”

Youngjae rolls his eyes as Himchan takes Daehyun’s hand and presses a kiss to it. His eyes widen, but he doesn’t move. Youngjae snickers at the pure, unadulterated shock on Daehyun’s face.

“May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?” Himchan asks, his brown eyes trailing up Daehyun’s arm to lock with his.

Daehyun gulps, slowly removing his hand from Himchan’s. “It’s, um, Daehyun.”

“Daehyun… Lovely name,” Himchan says as he straightens up.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Youngjae says, grabbing Daehyun’s shoulders and steering him away from Himchan. “I have to talk to you.”

Himchan nods, picking up on Youngjae’s change in tone, and signals to his crew that he’s leaving. “Let’s get something to eat.”

Youngjae turns to Daehyun. “Can you make it back to the room by yourself?”

Daehyun blinks, raising an eyebrow, but he turns around and walks back to the inn. Youngjae can’t hear exactly what Daehyun mutters, but he picks up something that sounds like _I’m not a child_ before Himchan slings an arm around Youngjae’s shoulders.

“Tell me, though, what brings you to the sleepy village of Skystead?” Himchan asks, walking down the dock and further into town.

Youngjae pushes Himchan’s arm away. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I had to land,” Himchan replies. He leans close to Youngjae’s ear, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Zico is setting off all the Halosis alarms. He’s attacking every ship he comes across, Halosis or not. I couldn’t risk another minute up in the sky with all that trouble, you know? That’s why Yongguk’s up there. He’s keeping lookout.”

Youngjae bites his bottom lip. Between Zico and Halosis ships on patrol, he can only imagine what the skies are like right now. He hopes his crew made it to Lunaris safely.

“Never mind that, though,” Himchan says. “What are _you_ doing down here? I didn’t think I’d find you in the middle of the ocean with another man. Does your crew know about this?”

Youngjae hums. “Well, that’s a long story.”

“I have the time,” Himchan says, putting his arm back on Youngjae’s shoulders. Youngjae doesn’t push it away this time.

“Yeah? Well, I don’t,” Youngjae says.

“What do you mean?“

They walk to the biggest tavern in town, and Youngjae pushes the door open before Himchan can finish. He drags him to sit at a table in the far corner. A waitress comes by with a smile on her face and in a dress covered almost entirely in frills. She places two cups of water at their table.

“What can I get for you?” he asks.

“I’ll get whatever he’s having,” Youngjae says.

Himchan splutters for a moment. “I’ll, um… Do you have a special?”

“Yes, it’s a soup––“

“Great, I’ll have that,” Himchan says, removing his coat and hanging it on the back of the chair. The waitress looks annoyed at his interruption, but he smiles and winks at her. “Thanks, love.”

The waitress makes a face of disgust when Himchan isn’t looking and turns around, the frills bouncing as she leaves. Youngjae has to hold back a laugh.

“So, what’s going on?” Himchan asks, his eyebrows drawing together in concern.

“Well, my ship crashed a couple days ago,” Youngjae starts.

//

Himchan’s ship, Mistress Nine, takes off early the next morning. Himchan is quick to assign them jobs (“Youngjae, I’m forever indebted to your family and I love you, but I’m gonna need you and Daehyun to start working around here,” Himchan said with a smile. “Everybody pulls their own weight on my ship.”), which Youngjae respects because it’s Himchan’s ship, Himchan’s rules, but Youngjae needs to keep an eye on Daehyun. He trusts Himchan with plenty of things, but Daehyun is _not_ one of them. Even if he could, he doesn’t know if he’d be able to say the same about Himchan’s crew.

Youngjae ends up working as lookout at night with Daehyun. It works out perfectly because Youngjae gets to have an occasional nap, and Daehyun is awake the entire time.

Four nights later, Youngjae tip-toes the line between being awake and being unconscious. He has his eyes closed, his head tipped back and leaning against the wall of the crow’s nest. He has his legs propped up on the wall across from him. The gentle sway and rock of the ship is almost enough to lull him completely asleep.

“Sleeping again?” Daehyun whispers, then scoffs. “Figures.”

Youngjae is too tired to say anything.

“Actually,” Daehyun says, his voice almost too quiet to be heard over the wind, “I could have met any human, but I met _you_ , and I’m… I’m relieved. Glad, even.”

Youngjae opens his eyes, and sees Daehyun’s back to him, moonlit hair blowing in the wind. There’s something unexplainably beautiful about him, but Youngjae shakes his head, blaming it on the late hour.

“I watched civilizations rise and fall. I saw humanity tear itself apart with its petty wars. When the last world war turned the Earth into a nuclear wasteland, I waited for it to crumble beneath your feet, but it didn’t. I saw your planet grow back blue and green and…and _brilliant_ , and humanity came back with it.” Daehyun takes a deep breath, staying silent for a moment. “I saw how horrible humanity could be, but you also showed me how _good_ it can be. You showed me _so_ many wonderful things on this planet I couldn’t see from the sky, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Youngjae gulps. He’s beginning to feel guilty about this. He reaches into his pocket and grabs onto the vial. If he gives it to Daehyun, he can go home. Youngjae takes a deep breath and shakes his head. He needs that new ship. His _crew_ needs it.

“Um… have you…been awake the entire time?”

Youngjae looks at Daehyun and realizes that he turned around, looking both surprised and horrified. “Maybe.”

“So, you heard me talking…the entire time?” Daehyun asks as his eyes grow wider.

“Maybe,” Youngjae says again.

Daehyun takes a deep breath and sits down beside Youngjae. An awkward silence falls over them, blanketing them completely, until Daehyun rests his legs up beside Youngjae’s, his folded hands resting in his lap. “I meant what I said, though.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Youngjae says, and he honestly doesn’t. He heard the sincerity in Daehyun’s voice, but he also knows optimism like that is short-lived because humans are angry and selfish creatures. He knows naivety that pure can be shattered in mere moments.

Daehyun rests his head on Youngjae’s shoulder with a sigh. “So thanks.”

And Youngjae knows that he’ll be the one to shatter it.

Daehyun suddenly stands up, tense. “What _is_ that?”

“What?” Youngjae asks, standing beside Daehyun. Then, he sees it. Just ahead of them is a bright orange glow beneath the clouds. If he listens closely, he can hear screams and gunfire in the wind. When the clouds beneath them clear, he sees a burning Halosis battleship. Beside it is another ship with machine guns firing at it.

Youngjae knows that ship. He’s suddenly thrown back to several years ago on that same ship. He sees a man towering over him with a scowl on his mouth and anger flaring in his eyes. He sees arms covered in tattoos gripping his neck and cutting off his breath. He feels fear and anxiety bubble in the pit of his stomach, threatening to overcome everything else inside of him. His vision darkens around the edges. Sounds dull into a continuous ringing hum. His breath comes in short huffs like those calloused hands are wrapped around his neck again.

Everything surrounds Zico, just like before.

"Youngjae?" Daehyun asks, placing a tentative hand on Youngjae's shoulder. "Youngjae, are you okay?"

Youngjae gasps, yanked out of his trance, and faces Daehyun. The fires from the battleship are so bright that he glows orange. "I... We need to tell them. Stay up here.”

Youngjae swings his feet over the rails of the crow's nest and climbs down the ladder. He already waited too long. For all he knows, Zico could have seen them. He jumps down the last couple of rungs and takes off running towards the helm.

"Get cover in the clouds!" Youngjae exclaims. "There's an attack going on below us!”

The person at the wheel––a meek man named Hyunsik––blinks sleepily at him. "What?"

"Look! It’s just below us! We need cloud cover!" Youngjae exclaims, pointing at the rail behind the helm.

Hyunsik looks over the edge and then back at Youngjae with wide eyes, his face going pale. He goes back to the wheel and spins it around to head into the clouds to the east. The ship begins creaking and groaning as it changes directions. A falcon circles around the deck, drifting closer until it transforms in a cloud of feathers. Yongguk lands on the deck, nodding to Youngjae as he brushes a few stray feathers from his shoulders, and gently guiding Hyunsik into the clouds.

“Did you see it, too?” Yongguk asks, looking up at Youngjae.

Himchan comes out of his cabin and walks up to the helm. "What's going on?"

"It's Zico," Yongguk replies, and Himchan immediately goes quiet. He looks over the rail at the disaster below.

"Cloud cover isn't enough," Himchan whispers. He signals for Youngjae to follow him as he heads back to the main deck. "We have to get ready if he plans to attack us.”

Youngjae gulps. He doesn't fear death––he catches lightning bolts for a living––but Zico is a near unstoppable force of nature that will destroy the world if given the chance. Youngjae doesn’t fear death, but Zico will give him plenty of reasons to.

Himchan climbs down to the lower deck, waking up his entire crew on the way to the armory. He pushes the door open, heading to the table of rifles. He takes one and hands it to Youngjae.

“You remember how to shoot this?” he asks as he slings his own.

Youngjae nods. He’s more comfortable with a sword, but he’ll use whatever he has to.

“Good.” Himchan takes a couple full magazines and stuffs them into his pocket. “I need you up in the crow’s nest. You have to watch out for Daehyun.”

“Right,” Youngjae replies with another nod as he slings the rifle. Daehyun is his first priority. He refuses to let Zico take Daehyun.

Youngjae pushes through the sleepy and confused crew back onto the deck. The ship already made it into the clouds, making visibility near impossible. He feels around the deck for the ladder leading to the crow’s nest, not willing to wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He climbs the ladder soundlessly, his limbs moving almost mechanically.

“Daehyun?” Youngjae whispers as he climbs over the rails.

“What’s going on?” Daehyun asks.

“Defending ourselves,” Youngjae replies. His fingers drum the strap of the rifle pressed against his chest. “We don’t want to end up like that Halosis battleship.”

They wait in absolute darkness. Youngjae’s heart pounds in his chest. His blood rushes in his ears. He forces himself to breathe because he knows if he doesn’t, he’ll suffocate. He closes his eyes, but it’s no different.

“You’re shaking.” Daehyun’s voice cuts through the haze like a lighthouse in a storm. He puts his hand on Youngjae’s shoulder, his fingers a light touch against Youngjae’s skin. “Youngjae, what’s _really_ going on?”

Youngjae takes a deep breath. “Zico is the captain of that ship. There are plenty of myths about him. Some say that he rose from the debris of the old cities before the Halosis projects were built. Others say he emerged from a fire and brought down entire towns with the chaos that followed him.”

Daehyun’s hand squeezes Youngjae’s shoulder.

“None of that is true, but I know that he’s dangerous. He’ll set the world on fire if it means he gets to control it.” Youngjae scrubs his face with his hands, digging his palms into his closed eyes. “I… I know because I helped him become that way.”

Daehyun remains silent, but he slowly pulls Youngjae into a tentative hug. He’s warm and comforting, and Youngjae thinks back to his family, and the home he’ll never return to, and the overflowing kindness that knows no bounds. He presses his face into Daehyun’s shoulder with a deep sigh.

Youngjae lifts his head. He freezes. They’re out of the clouds, and right beside them is Zico’s ship, impressive and far more opulent than anything Youngjae could ever hope to own. It stands out against the dark sky, bleached a sickly white.

“Don’t resist, and we won’t shoot,” a voice announces over the gap between the two ships.

Youngjae lets go of Daehyun and looks down on the deck. He sees Himchan, Yongguk, and two other men by his side walk out of the lower deck. His left hand rests on the sword at his hip.

“And if we do?” Himchan asks.

“We shoot you” is the reply.

When Zico’s ship comes closer and a bridge is lowered between them, Himchan holds his hands up to the men beside him, holding them back. Two men walk onto Mistress Nine, taller and stronger than anybody on Himchan’s crew. Neither of them are Zico. Youngjae scans the ship, but Zico is nowhere to be found.

They start talking, too quiet for Youngjae to hear. He can’t pick up anything in the wind. They remain motionless, except for the small movements of their lips.

A shot rings out in the silence. Youngjae catches a single shot fly into Zico’s ship with a dull _thunk_. He sees everything in a blur. Someone screams. Himchan aims his gun at someone. Men and women pour out of ships like water breaking through a dam. Everything is chaos.

“I have to help them,” Youngjae whispers, but the fear in Daehyun’s eyes makes his hesitate. He grabs onto Daehyun’s shoulders, squeezing them in his trembling fingers. “You have to stay up here, okay? Don’t do anything else.”

Daehyun nods.

Youngjae climbs down a loose rope, swinging around. He throws himself into the thickest of the chaos. He pulls his knife out of his boot, slicing at the first person he doesn’t recognize. He lets go. He isn’t controlling himself anymore. He’s fighting for himself. For Himchan. For Daehyun.

“You’re supposed to be with Daehyun,” Himchan says, his back colliding with Youngjae’s.

“And miss this?” Youngjae replies with a light laugh. “Come on, it’s just like old times.”

“You sound like an old witch.” Himchan taps Youngjae’s shoulder, lifting him up and throwing him across the deck.

Youngjae already has his rifle out. He starts shooting before his feet touch the ground. “What if I didn’t land on my feet?!” he swings the stock of his rifle against someone’s head. “We aren’t seventeen anymore!”

“Just like old times, remember?!” Himchan grunts as he punches someone in the stomach.

“I didn’t mean–– Ugh!” Youngjae ducks as a knife hurtles toward him.

But it only takes moments for Himchan’s crew to be subdued. They’re completely outnumbered. Youngjae finds himself surrounded. He glances at Himchan, and he’s in a similar situation. He drops his rifle to the deck, and it falls with a loud clatter. He knows when he’s lost. He’s still bitter about it.

Someone comes up behind him and ties his hands together with rope. He grits his teeth as it digs into his skin. He huffs as someone pushes him down onto his knees. He’s tempted to try escaping, but the desperate look in Himchan’s eyes is enough to stop him. He takes a deep breath, glancing up at Daehyun, still up in the crow’s nest.

Suddenly, a silence heavier than death falls over everybody. Even the night itself seems to hold its breath. Footsteps sound on the deck, slow and calm, and Youngjae dares looking up.

Zico stares down at him, his dark eyes filled with cold composure. “What a small world.” The lazy lilt in his voice shakes Youngjae to his very core.

It takes Youngjae a moment to realize that he’s shaking. He can’t find his voice, trapped behind a painful lump in his throat.

“I didn’t expect to meet you again,” Zico says, grabbing onto Youngjae’s chin and forcing him to look up. He smiles, impeccable and terrifying. “Especially like _this_. How nostalgic.”

Zico moves his hand to Youngjae’s hair, his long fingers combing through the short strands. Youngjae grits his teeth, but he doesn’t dare move. He knows better than that. Zico’s hand stops. He shoves Youngjae’s head to the side with a sneer.

“Take him on board,” Zico orders. “Leave everybody else.”

Two men drag Youngjae to his feet and push him to the bridge between Zico’s ship and Mistress Nine. He takes deep breaths. If Himchan can take Daehyun to Lunaris and Youngjae’s crew, everything will be fine. He’ll figure out a way to escape on his own.

“Stop!”

“No,” Youngjae whispers, closing his eyes. He clenches his hands into fists, his nails digging tiny crescents into his palms. “No, you _idiot_.”

Zico spins around, scanning the ship with furrowed eyebrows, until he reaches the crow’s nest. Youngjae sees realization dawn on him. He feels his stomach drop when a smile spreads across Zico’s face like a predator finding his prey.

“I’ve been looking for a fallen star, but I didn’t expect to find it on your ship. Were you hiding this from me?” Zico asks Himchan.

Himchan keeps his mouth shut. He looks a glare away from spitting at Zico’s feet.

“He’s with me,” Youngjae says before Himchan can. “Don’t bring Himchan into this.”

Zico turns to Youngjae again, but he can’t look him in the eye. He doesn’t say anything. Youngjae shifts under Zico’s gaze, his eyes focused on his feet. Eventually, Zico breaks the silence, quiet and commanding. “Bring him down. We’re taking them both.”

Youngjae’s eyes widen. His heart pounds in his throat. He pulls free from the men holding him back and runs to Zico. He has to stop them. “No! Leave him––”

The last thing Youngjae sees is a fist headed straight towards him.

//

Youngjae wiped the blood running from his nose with the back of his hand. He glared up at Zico, trying to look brave when that was the last thing he felt. Fear coursed through his veins. It made him want to curl in on himself and hide. He forced himself to hold on. He just had to stall long enough until Himchan came with help.

“Why did you let them all go?” Zico asked. He leaned down and grabbed onto Youngjae’s hair, pulling up and forcing Youngjae to look at him.

“Because people aren’t cargo,” Youngjae replied.

Zico let go of Youngjae’s hair and kicked him in the stomach. Youngjae coughed as pain blossomed in his torso, blood flying in splatters in front of him. He groaned as he fought to keep his eyes open.

“You were supposed to be my right-hand man,” Zico spit. “I don’t know why I bothered helping you.”

“For what it’s worth, I hope you rot in hell,” Youngjae coughed.

“What was that?” Zico asked, leaning down towards Youngjae. He was close enough for his voice to vibrate in Youngjae’s chest.

“Rot in hell,” Youngjae repeated. He spit at Zico, smiling when the bloody glob landed on his shirt.

Zico grabbed onto the collar of Youngjae’s shirt, lifting him up to his feet. “You’re _nothing_ but a little bird without me.”

A deafening boom resounded, and a bright light engulfed the world.

//

Youngjae wakes up to the gentle sway and rock of the ship. He hasn’t had that dream in a while. He groans. His entire right side is sore. His head throbs and spins every time he tries to move. He squints up at the light shining down on his from an open window. His right arm is numb, prickling and heavy. He sits up, closing his eyes when his head spins. He shakes his arm, hissing when it locks up as the blood rushes back into it. He’s sitting in what looks like a jail cell, if the metal bars in front of him tell him anything. How long has he been out? More importantly, where did Daehyun go?

Youngjae stands up, gripping the bars in front of him for balance. “Hey! Is there anyone down here?!”

“If I were you, I’d shut up,” someone says.

Youngjae is taken aback by how close the voice is. Must be in the cell next to him. He scoffs. “Who are you?”

“The poor bastard who had the misfortune of being next to you, apparently.”

“Funny,” Youngjae says. He shakes the door, the harsh sound of metal scraping against the wood filling the room. “I need to talk to Zico!”

“Hey, I was being serious,” the voice says, quieter this time. “You sound like a man. Be quiet, and maybe they’ll be gentler with you.”

Youngjae knows how Zico and his crew work. He knows the women who are prisoners are turned into servants and playthings for the men in his crew. He’s seen the men take these women into dark corners of the ship and rip off their clothes and have their way with them. He’s seen Zico do it plenty of times. He used to ignore the whimpering and struggling pleas. The day he escaped Zico’s crew was the day he set those women free.

Youngjae had his reasons. He can’t see why Zico is still holding a grudge.

“I have to get out of here,” Youngjae mutters. He lets go of the bars and turns to the window. It looks out to the water far below them, shimmering beneath the midday sun. He sighs, running his hands down his face. How could this happen? He has to find Daehyun before Zico does anything to him.

The voice laughs, coarse and throaty, like two stones grinding against one another. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks,” Youngjae spits in the voice’s general direction. He begins pacing the small length of his cell, trying to come up with some sort of plan.

Youngjae doesn’t get very far before someone comes down the steps. A man stops at his cell. He looks down at Youngjae, his face twisted in disgust. When he pulls the door, it swings open with a struggling screech.

“Zico wants to talk to you,” he says, low and rough. “Follow me.”

Youngjae doesn’t say anything as he falls into step behind the man. He considers running, but the man looks like he could snap him at the waist if he wanted to. They walk up the steps to the deck. Youngjae squints his eyes into the sudden burst of light, holding his hand above his eyes. When his eyes adjust, he can see people staring at him. The man doesn’t stop walking until they reach the door to Zico’s cabin. It’s an ornate door, painted a rich red and accented with stark white.

The man knocks on the door and steps aside.

“Come in,” Zico says.

Youngjae takes a deep breath. He had plenty of time to steel his nerves. He pushes the door open and walks in. Zico stands at a mahogany desk, looking down at a massive monitor embedded into it. He’s silhouetted by the windows behind him, his figure striking an imposing shadow on the desk and floor.

“I’m sorry for the wait. I’ll have him there in a couple more days, alright?” Zico says, pressing his fingers against an earpiece. He glances up at Youngjae with a frown. “I’ll get back to you.”

“Who was that?” Youngjae asks as he walks up to the desk. On the monitor is a map, littered with countless ships.

Zico’s frown deepens. He removes the earpiece and places it on the desk. “It’s not your business to know, so don’t ask.”

“Why am I here?” Youngjae asks. He crosses his arms, trying to keep up his facade. He hates to admit it, but he’s still afraid of Zico, even after all these years. “Or is that not my business either?”

Zico looks up at Youngjae with a smile. It makes him sick because he knows it’s just a mask. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Where’s Daehyun?” Youngjae asks. He doesn’t have time for small talk, especially with Zico.

Zico’s smile slips and the mask cracks as he clenches his jaw. “You always went straight to the point.”

“Only because I don’t see why we should avoid it,” Youngjae replies.

“I don’t appreciate how you’re trying to take away what’s rightfully mine,” Zico says. He turns off the monitor and walks around the desk to stand over Youngjae. He takes a step back on instinct, like an animal seeking escape.

“What do you _mean_ ‘rightfully yours’? He was _never_ yours. He was never anybody’s in the first place,” Youngjae says. He thinks about what Zico said, and his eyes grow wide as he realizes the meaning behind it. “ _You’re_ the one who took Daehyun out of the sky.”

Zico smiles, his teeth gleaming like a shark’s. “Legends say that eating the heart of a star grants eternal life. It was only natural that I take one for myself, don’t you think?”

“What did you do to him?” Youngjae’s stomach bubbles anxiously when he thinks about what Zico could have done to Daehyun. “Where is he?”

Zico holds a finger up to silence Youngjae. “Let me make a proposal, and we can settle this.”

Youngjae forces himself to wait for Zico to continue.

“I’ll give you a case full of crowns if you’ll leave Daehyun alone and not mention this to anybody,” Zico eventually says. He leans on his desk, his hands pressed against the edges and a smug smile on his lips.

Youngjae is stuck at a crossroads. One side leads to his crew, and the other leads to Daehyun. This was the original plan in the first place, so why is he hesitating? Two weeks ago, he knows what he would have done, but now, he can’t take one path without feeling guilty about the other. He can’t choose both things, no matter how much he wants to. That isn’t how this situation works.

“It’s a fair trade. The fairest I’ll ever offer, believe it or not,” Zico says. “You think I didn’t know about your ship? I know you need this money. I know what you were planning to do with the star. You may say you have your ‘morals’, but you’re still a pirate at your core, aren’t you?”

“I…” Youngjae hesitates. He takes another step away from Zico. He closes his eyes. His hands fall to his sides, clenched into tight fists. “I… Just let me talk to Daehyun.”

Zico frowns. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Let me see him,” Youngjae insists, opening his eyes.

Zico sighs. He pushes off the desk and heads to the door. “Bring me the star.”

“Yes, Captain,” is the reply.

“I don’t know why you want to see him,” Zico says as he heads back to the desk. “It would be easier if you left him.”

“I just want to talk to him,” Youngjae says. _I need to make sure he’s okay_.

Silence falls between them, although it is anything but companionable. Youngjae thinks back to the days he used to belong to Zico’s crew with disgust and hatred. He used to idolize Zico and follow him like a devoted disciple. He wasn’t always like this. He used to be an admirable man. It was a slow transition into what he is now, and Youngjae didn’t even realize until it was too late.

“I hope you realize that I’m only doing what’s best for the both of us,” Zico says with a shrug. “It’s the most efficient way.”

Youngjae opens his mouth to say something, but a knock on the door interrupts him.

“Send him in,” Zico says.

The door opens slowly. Youngjae turns around. Daehyun stands in front of him, quiet and unsure. He folds his hands in front of himself, his eyes cast downward.

“Daehyun,” Youngjae whispers. He wants to wrap his arms around Daehyun, to make sure that it really is him, but he holds himself back.

Daehyun looks up, surprise evident on his face, and a small gasp escapes his mouth. He closes the distance between them in a couple steps. “Youngjae! Are you okay?” He lifts a cautious hand to Youngjae’s cheek. Youngjae winces when it stings. “I’m sorry about this.”

Youngjae takes Daehyun’s hand and removes it from his cheek with a small smile. “I’m fine. Everything… Everything’s fine. They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

Daehyun shakes his head. He looks like he wants to say more, but nothing comes out of his mouth.

“Aren’t you going to talk to him?” Zico asks. “This is what you wanted, right?”

When Youngjae looks at Zico, he raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t move. Youngjae sighs. He won’t leave them alone. Why did Youngjae think he would in the first place?

“Since I’m on a tight schedule, you have three minutes,” Zico says. He taps the screen on his desk. “Starting now.”

Youngjae realizes that he has everything to say to Daehyun, but nowhere to start. His thoughts are incoherent, both loud and quiet simultaneously. It takes him a moment to realize that he’s still gripping Daehyun’s wrist in his hand.

“I’m sorry,” Daehyun whispers. His eyes glisten. He looks down at their feet. “I’m so sorry.”

Youngjae blinks. “Daehyun, I already said it’s––“

“No, you wouldn’t be here if I didn’t crash into your ship,” Daehyun says. He closes his eyes, the tears finally slipping free, shimmering silver rivulets against his tawny skin. “It’s my fault. So I’m sorry.”

Youngjae wants to say no. He wants to grab onto Daehyun’s shoulders and scream that none of this is his fault. It was _never_ his fault. They’re just pieces in Zico’s game, mere _pawns_ in something much bigger than themselves. Youngjae glances at Zico, but he only sees a smug smile.

“Zico said he can take me home,” Daehyun says, but the words sound hollow, like he doesn’t want to believe it. “You’ll be dropped off in Lunaris when we get there, and you can meet up with your crew. Just like you planned.”

Before Youngjae can say anything else, Daehyun pulls him in for a hug. He’s still warm, but the comfort is gone, replaced by anxiety and fear. But it is an embrace nonetheless, and Youngjae is grateful. He brings his arms up to wrap around Daehyun’s waist, his chin hooked over Daehyun’s shoulder.

“I’ll be okay,” Daehyun whispers into Youngjae’s shoulder, just low enough to barely be heard. Youngjae almost yanks back, but Daehyun holds his there. “Just trust me.”

When they pull back, Daehyun wipes his cheeks with the sleeves of his shirt and tries his best to smile in reassurance.

This is the exact moment Youngjae realizes the source of his hesitation. He realizes that he might be in love. He thinks about Daehyun laughing, and crying, and screaming, and smiling. He thinks about Daehyun’s fascination with Earth. He thinks about the warmth pressed against his side when he sat next to Daehyun in Mistress Nine’s crow’s nest, and the steady pulse exchanged between them. He thinks about the kindness overflowing from Daehyun: infinite, yet naive and so _familiar_. He thinks about the almost child-like glimmer of boundless curiosity in Daehyun’s eyes. He thinks about how ageless Daehyun really is, and how he could stretch to infinity if he wanted to.

Youngjae wonders why he first thought of Daehyun as _just_ a star.

Youngjae takes Daehyun’s face in his hands, wiping away the rest of the tear-stained trails with his thumbs. Daehyun’s eyes are wide and expectant, like he knows what Youngjae wants to do, like he _wants_ Youngjae to do it.

“Your time is almost up,” Zico announces.

Youngjae takes a deep breath. Without another moment of hesitation, he leans down to press his lips against Daehyun’s. Their kiss is electric, and desperate, and tinged with salty tears, and something Youngjae wishes he did so much earlier. He feels Daehyun’s hands bunch in his shirt, gripping the fabric in fistfuls. He moves his hand behind Daehyun’s head and the other on his hip, pulling him closer and tangling his fingers in the finer strands of his hair. His pulse quickens. His lungs scream for air the longer they kiss. He knows Zico is staring at them, but he can’t bring himself to care.

The room shrinks until it’s just Youngjae and Daehyun there, and it feels _right_. Youngjae pushes against Daehyun, his arm snaking around the arch in his back. When he pulls back, he opens his eyes, not even realizing that he closed them. Daehyun’s eyes are still closed when he presses his forehead against Youngjae’s. His shining eyelashes flutter as he lets out a trembling breath, fanning out warm and almost metallic around Youngjae’s face. Daehyun opens wide, silver eyes, staring right into Youngjae’s soul, and he realizes that he is completely _ruined_.

“Alright, time’s up,” Zico says. He pushes off the desk and separates them. He grabs Daehyun by the shoulders and steers him towards the door.

“Youngjae–– Remember what I said!” Daehyun exclaims before he’s pushed out the door.

Zico slams the door and turns to Youngjae with disgust showing through his cracked mask. “So, what’s your choice?”

“You lied to Daehyun,” Youngjae says, his voice dripping with accusation. “You told his you’d take him home when you’re going to _kill_ him.”

Zico scoffs as he brushes past Youngjae. “What was I supposed to do? Tell him the truth and hope he doesn’t try to break out?”

Youngjae stays silent as Zico walks back to his desk, sitting in the chair.

He folds his hands above the top, leaning forward. “Have you made your choice yet?”

“What if I say no?” Youngjae asks.

“But why would you? I’m offering you a fair price. The only logical choice would be to accept, wouldn’t you think so?” Zico replies.

Youngjae bites his bottom lip. Zico has a point. He _always_ has a point, but just because he’s pragmatic doesn’t mean his morals aren’t completely skewed.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you until we reach Lunaris to give me your answer,” Zico says. “That should be plenty of time.”

“When is that?” Youngjae asks.

“Tomorrow.”

It isn’t a lot of time, but Youngjae will take what he can get. There must be some way he can get the money _and_ Daehyun out of here. He can come up with a plan, but he can’t think of one without outside help.

“You may leave now,” Zico says with a wave of his hand. “Give my proposal some thought.”

Youngjae wants to say something, but he turns around to the door. He knows staying silent is better than a fight against Zico. He opens the door and the man is there to walk him back to the cell. He follows the man silently across the deck. The same people from earlier stare at him. He recognizes a handful of faces from years ago, but the rest are new and unfamiliar. There is disgust and hatred in some of their expressions, but others look at his with envy.

_He’s the one who made it out_ , their eyes seem to say.

When they reach Youngjae’s cell, the man nearly throws him back in there. He sits against the wall as the door screeches shut with Daehyun still on his mind. He can still feel the warmth on his lips. His body feels cold, all the heat concentrated in the places that Daehyun touched.

Youngjae lets out a shaking breath and closes his eyes.

If he doesn’t do something, Daehyun is going to die.

One less star in the sky.

One less person in Youngjae’s life.

“You’re pretty quiet now, aren’t you?” the voice asks. “Did you talk to Zico?”

“Shut up,” Youngjae says. The last thing he needs is a disembodied voice mocking him.

“Oh, so you’re a hypocrite? I actually tried helping you earlier,” the voice replies. “But… I heard that if you pray hard enough, a witch will come down and grant you a wish.”

Youngjae scoffs. He’s never heard that one before. His eyes widen, and he sits up. A witch? He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the vial. The potion is still glowing as brightly as it did before. This is it. Youngjae clutches the vial in his hand.

There’s still hope.

//

They reach Lunaris the next afternoon. Youngjae looks out the window behind Zico at the gently glowing city. As the sun slips further behind the horizon, the entire city slowly lights up. At the center of the city is the Halosis military base, a gigantic glass structure shaped like a lotus flower. It looks out of place in the historic buildings surrounding it.

“Your choice?” Zico asks.

“Before I give you an answer,” Youngjae says, “I want to talk to Daehyun.”

Zico frowns. “Again? You already did.”

“Let me talk to him and I’ll give you an answer. Simple as that,” Youngjae replies.

Zico sighs and walks to the door. He opens it and speaks to the man outside.

“What could you possibly want to talk to him about now?” Zico asks after he closes the door.

“Not your business,” Youngjae replies quietly. The vial sits heavy in his pocket. If he can give it to Daehyun, he’d be safe.

There isn’t much time before they reach the dock, and the city is only growing closer. This is the last time Youngjae will see Daehyun. He just wants to say goodbye. He knows that love was never possible in the first place, but that doesn’t make the stabbing pain in his chest hurt any less.

When Daehyun walks through the door, Youngjae senses something wrong. He frowns. Nothing looks any different, but the air seemed to change the moment Daehyun walked in.

“Daehyun,” Youngjae says, slowly approaching Daehyun. “I, um––“

“What do you want?” Daehyun asks. He crosses his arms above his chest with a disgusted frown on his face.

“Well, I just wanted to say…” Youngjae can’t finish the sentence. There’s definitely something wrong, but he doesn’t know _what_. “I…”

“You’re going to leave me,” Daehyun replies, his steel eyes impossibly cold. “I know.”

Youngjae freezes, his limbs locking in place. He frowns. “What?”

“You were always going to leave me,” Daehyun continues. “I don’t know why I ever believed you.”

Youngjae looks at Zico, then back at Daehyun. How did he find out? What did Zico tell him? “Daehyun, what are you talking about?”

“I was never going to get back home, was I?” Daehyun asks. He takes a step toward Youngjae, jabbing a finger into Youngjae’s chest. “You made me believe that you actually cared when you were just going to _sell_ me to Neptune knows who the moment we stepped onto Lunaris!”

Youngjae takes a deep breath. He almost reaches into his pocket for the vial. He wonders if it’s even worth it at this point. He swats Daehyun’s hand away, feeling anger and frustration bubble inside of him. It feels as sour as betrayal.

“So what? We never liked each other in the first place. Why are you getting so worked up over a _business transaction_? I’m sorry things started getting personal in between us, but it was supposed to be _nothing_ more than that!” Youngjae exclaims in his blind anger. The words spill out of his mouth faster than he can comprehend them. Before he knows it, he’s on the floor and the entire left side of his face stings.

It takes him a moment to realize that Daehyun punched him.

He can’t hear anything over the rush pounding in his ears. His hand comes up to his warm cheek. When he looks at Daehyun, his breath hitches at the unbridled loathing in Daehyun’s eyes. When Daehyun walks out the door, Youngjae gets to his feet and turns to Zico. His heart hurts, but he won’t give Zico the satisfaction of seeing it.

“Where’s the money?” Youngjae forces through gritted teeth.

“Are you accepting my proposal?” Zico asks, his smile smug and _disgusting_.

Youngjae clenches his hands into fists. He can feel his heartbeat in his palm. He utters out a quiet “Yes.”

Zico nods and looks out the window. “We’re just about to dock soon, too. I’m glad we could come to an agreement.”

“Just give me the money and I’ll be gone,” Youngjae spits.

Zico reaches under his desk and pulls out a briefcase. When he opens it, ten rows of crown bills stare back at Youngjae. It’s more than enough for a new ship.

“Is this real?” Youngjae asks.

“Of course,” Zico replies, looking almost offended at the question.

Youngjae is wary, but he closes the briefcase and takes it anyway. He walks out the door and stands at the rail. Lunaris looms below the ship.

Lunaris is the oldest aerial-city to date, developed by an international group of scientists several hundred years ago. It uses the same technology as skyships and local magic to keep it afloat. Since then, the city grew into a metropolis with buildings towering higher every year. Many people see it as a city of opportunity. Youngjae just sees it as a city of sin. The city is too massive for the local government to do anything about it, and all the citizens know and take advantage of that.

Youngjae looks down at the city. It’s beautiful regardless.

When the ship pulls up to one of the many harbors, Youngjae is already itching to get off. He just wants to find his crew and forget this all happened.

“Don’t think of trying to come back for him,” Zico says. Youngjae flinches, but Zico’s heavy hand rests on his shoulder and holds him still.

Zico’s words stab straight through Youngjae. With that hand, he’s a helpless teenager again, desperately seeking whatever guidance that’s thrown at him. His mind floods with memories of fights, his powerlessness, beatings, his weakness, abuse, his guilt. He wants to shove Zico away, but he’s frozen in place just by a single hand.

Youngjae bites his bottom lip as he forces himself to snap out of it. “I wouldn’t think of it.”

“Good,” Zico says. He squeezes Youngjae’s shoulder.

Youngjae was never in control. Why did he ever think he was?

Youngjae steps onto the dock, but he feels like he might fall through the city with how heavy his guilt weighs on his shoulders. He turns around to see Zico’s ship pulling away.

“Don’t forget what I said,” Zico calls out. He waves with one hand and has his other arm around Daehyun’s shoulders.

Youngjae frowns. The shine in Daehyun’s eyes is gone, replaced by a dull luster. Everything about hi, looks unexplainably _dead_. It scares Youngjae what Zico could have done to Daehyun.

Youngjae sighs, waiting for the ship to disappear into the clouds. Instead, he finds Daehyun looking through a window in the stern, panicked and completely different from the one on the deck. He pounds on the window, screaming something Youngjae can’t hear. He looks back at Zico and _whoever_ the hell is beside him.

Youngjae looks back at Daehyun, gritting his teeth. He wants to be surprised that Zico would pull a trick like this, but he’s seen Zico do worse. He spins around and heads further into the city. He needs a new ship.

//

Youngjae walks into a shipyard in the northeastern side of the city. He knows a mechanic there who can give his the ship he needs, complete with machine guns and bolt-catchers. He might be able to throw in the electric navigation system with the amount of money Youngjae has.

“Youngjae! What brings you to my humble shipyard?” Eunkwang says with a smile. His hair is brought up in a bun at the back of his head, a bright shock of electric blue in his bleak workshop. It was platinum blonde the last time Youngjae saw him.

“Hey, Eunkwang. I need a ship,” Youngjae says with a tired smile. “And the rest of my crew, if you’ve seen them.”

Without missing a heartbeat, Eunkwang replies, “Jongup came by last week.” He wipes his hands on the rag hanging out of his pocket and gestures for Youngjae to follow him out to the harbor. “He explained everything to me. He figured you’d come here first.”

“He knows be well,” Youngjae says with a shrug. He hops over a hole in the planks, staring down into the blue abyss. “You should get that fixed. You’ve had that for a while.”

“I’ll get around to it someday. Nobody’s died from it,” Eunkwang replies with a dismissive wave of his hand. He turns to Youngjae with a questioning stare. “He told me you’d have something else with you, though. A _star_ , more specifically.”

“Something happened,” Youngjae says. “I ran into Zico.”

Eunkwang freezes mid-step. He almost falls over. His questioning look turns into surprise and horror. He grips onto Youngjae’s shoulders. “And you’re _alive_?! How did that even happen?!”

“I handed the star to him,” Youngjae replies. He takes a deep breath, and avoids Eunkwang’s questioning stare. “Zico’s gonna kill him, Eunkwang. I have to go back.”

“After he spared you?!” Eunkwang exclaims. A couple other mechanics look from the ships they’re repairing to Youngjae and Eunkwang. “Why do you want to go back?”

“It’s not about _wanting_ , Eunkwang,” Youngjae pauses and pulls his bottom lip in between his teeth. “It’s… It’s the right thing to do.”

Eunkwang lets go of Youngjae’s shoulders with a look of fake disgust on his face. “Since when did you start ‘doing the right thing’?”

“I…” Youngjae draws in a deep breath and lets it out in a huff. “It’s a long story.”

Eunkwang’s eyebrows pull together in confusion, his eyes narrowing. Realization soon dawns on him, though. He smiles so wide, Youngjae has to back away. “You _like_ him, don’t you?”

“He has to get back home!” Youngjae says, but he can feel his cheeks grow warmer. “And Zico isn’t going to do that!”

Eunkwang begins walking again, but he’s still grinning. “I didn’t think I’d see the day you’d put someone else’s life before your own. Someone besides a crew mate, that is.”

“Anyway, where are we going?” Youngjae asks. He’s grateful for the breeze against his flushed face.

“You said you needed a ship, right? I got the perfect one for you,” Eunkwang says. He stops and holds his hands out like he’s presenting his own child. Knowing Eunkwang, each ship he builds is like his own child. “Her name is Rogue Warrior.”

Youngjae looks up and gasps. The ship they stop at is a gorgeous work of art. Polished wood, sleek red paint, a gorgeous bowsprit. He hates to say it, but this one is better than Wild Vega. When he thinks about it, though, Vega was stolen from a seedy Halosis military general. He walks up to Warrior, running his hand across the smooth wood.

“Eunkwang, this ship is amazing,” Youngjae breathes. “How long did it take your team to build this?”

“A year, give or take a couple months,” Eunkwang replies. He puts his hands on his hips, letting out a sigh of content as he looks up at the deck. “Jongup told me everything that happened, and I knew Warrior was for your crew.”

“She’s a good ship, isn’t she, Captain?”

Youngjae looks up and finds Jongup leaning on the rail with a wide grin on his face.

“Jongup!” Youngjae exclaims. He runs up the steps to the deck. He never thought he’d be so happy to see Jongup. He pats Jongup’s shoulder to make sure it’s actually him. “How are you doing?”

Jongup shrugs, but he’s still smiling. “I’ve been worse.”

“Where’s the rest of the crew?” Youngjae asks.

“Junhong took a couple guys with him to check out some weapons in the south side of the city. Everybody else is doing their own thing. We’ve all been staying here in Warrior,” Jongup replies.

“That’s very nice of you,” Youngjae says, looking over the rail at Eunkwang.

Eunkwang shrugs. “He told me you’d be bringing payment, so I couldn’t say no.”

“By the way,” Jongup says, and Youngjae catches his looking at the case still in his hand, “I’m going to assume that’s how much Zico paid you for Daehyun.”

Youngjae goes pale. “You heard me talking to Eunkwang?”

“Kinda hard not to.” Jongup shrugs. He places a hand on Youngjae’s shoulder, his eyes wide. “It’s the _right thing to do_ , Eunkwang. I have to _save_ him, Eunkwang.”

Youngjae pushes Jongup’s hand away and takes a step away from him. “I don’t have time to be playing around! Zico is going to kill him!”

The smile falls from Jongup’s face when he realizes just how serious Youngjae is. “Why are you doing this, Captain? You’re asking your crew to save someone we barely know from _Zico_. You and I both know that’s suicide.”

Youngjae furrows his eyebrows. He knows Jongup would follow his to the ends of the universe, and vice versa, but he knows that Jongup won’t follow hi blindly either.

“I’m not asking the entire crew,” Youngjae says. “I’ll go alone if I have to.”

Jongup’s stare bores into him. He puts his hands on his shoulders and squeezes. “Captain, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying.”

“What _are_ you saying, then?” Youngjae asks.

“Convince me.”

Youngjae looks into Jongup’s eyes. They’re unreadable, but the hands on his shoulders are steady and warm. “Those two weeks I spent with Daehyun… Jongup, I realized something. He doesn’t deserve to die by Zico’s hand, or sold off like a prostitute, or… _anything_ less than what he really is. You know?”

Jongup is silent as he stares at Youngjae. He holds his breath. He isn’t sure if he managed to convince him, but he spoke the truth, even if the truth is something that could kill him. Jongup smiles, patting Youngjae on the shoulder. “Well, consider me convinced.”

Youngjae lets out a breath, closing his eyes. Even if he only has one person on his side, it’s better than no one at all. “Thank you, Jongup.”

//

That evening, Youngjae stands before his crew with Jongup beside him. They look up at them with equal parts anticipation and confusion.

“It’s good to see you guys again. You’re probably wondering why we’re all gathered here,” Youngjae says, and everybody goes quiet. “We’re going to get the star back.”

“Why?” someone asks.

“He’s with Zico right now,” Youngjae replies. His entire crew starts to protest, growing louder until he holds a hand up.

"Captain," Jongup whispers, and Youngjae can hear the uncertainty in his voice.

Youngjae glances at him and gives him a small smile. “I want you guys to think back to your lowest point. Think about when I saved you. How many of you left Zico's crew?"

They look at each other, their protests beginning to melt into confusion. He found the trigger. He knows about Zico's plans to take over the sky and how it hurt so many people in his crew. He sees the underlying fear in their eyes.

"Let me rephrase that. How many of you _escaped_ Zico's crew?" Youngjae asks, his voice growing louder with each word. "How many of you saw your home reduced to a pile of ashes because of Zico? How many families did Zico murder before this point? How many of you stared Death right in the eyes through Zico?"

His crew begins whispering amongst each other. They begin to get riled up again, but he sees that it's all directed at Zico.

"So, think back to Zico and how he _fucked_ us over!" Youngjae shouts. He takes a deep breath. In a quieter voice, he continues. "Nobody else deserves to go through what you went through. That's why we have to get Daehyun back home. Even if you don't do it for him, do it for yourself. Think of it as revenge.”

A lot of them are coming around, but some of them still look unconvinced.

"I know you think going against Zico is a suicide mission," Youngjae begins, looking at every face in his crew, "and I know putting all your faith in me is something some of you don't want to do, so let me make a proposition."

"Captain?” Jongup says again, his voice growing more urgent.

"Let me finish," Youngjae whispers. Turning back to his crew, he says, "If you want to fight, stay. If you don't, then leave. I won't hold it against you."

The crew undulates, waves of uncertainty emerging in their anger. When the first person leaves, another one follows, then another, until Youngjae is left with only about half his crew. He tells himself it's okay, but his mind is racked with doubt.

Half of his crew isn't enough to put up a fight against Zico.

Before the group can step off the ship, Junhong goes to stand on Youngjae's other side. He crosses his arms as he glares at them. "How can you bastards just leave like this?! Youngjae saved so many of you, and _this_ is how you thank him?!”

“We’re just a bunch of bolt-chasers!” someone replies back. “I’m not about to go up against Zico!”

“You’re all cowards!” Junhong shouts back, throwing his middle finger up as they climb off the boat.

“If that means staying alive, then I don’t give a fuck!” someone else replies.

Junhong gets ready to chase after them, but Youngjae places a hand on his shoulder. “Junhong, let them leave. It’s their choice.”

“They’re making a mistake,” Junhong mutters under his breath.

Against his better judgement, Youngjae knows that Junhong is right, but they made their choice. There’s no more turning back for anybody.

“Does anybody else want to leave?” Youngjae calls out. He’s met with a chorus of _no_ , and he’s filled with relief. “I just want to say thanks. To all of you.”

“He had a point, though. We just catch lightning bolts!” someone exclaims.

Youngjae bites his bottom lip. As much as he hates to admit it, how are a bunch of bolt-chasers supposed to fight against Zico?

Youngjae turns to Jongup, ideas beginning to brew in his mind. “Do we still have lightning?”

Jongup purses his lips in thought. “Just remnants in small containers. You’re not thinking about––“

“I am,” Youngjae says with a smile. He has a plan. They may just be a bunch of bolt-chasers, but they have the lightning bolts to help them.

//

Youngjae decides to take off from Lunaris that night. He stands at the helm with Jongup beside him. He looks at the map in the tablet in his hands, squinting into the bright screen. “I can’t get a reading for Zico’s ship. Do you think Eunkwang gave me a faulty navigation tablet?”

Youngjae stares at the bundle of dark clouds ahead of the ship. “Or maybe you’re just getting interference from the storm up ahead.”

Jongup looks up, blinking. “Oh.”

“We have to get ready!” Youngjae shouts as a wide smile spreads across his face. He hops down from the helm and runs off to his crew. “Get the nets out! We got some lightning to catch!”

Youngjae knows what lightning bolts look like. He loves the way they crackle and jump in long, erratic bursts of light like the quick crack of a gun. It’s an undeniably beautiful sight. The rain and booming thunder drown out the laugh that comes up from deep within his chest. His world is lit up in an instant before he’s plunged into darkness again.

Youngjae glances at the gauge in the monitor in his hands. They’re almost at their limit. He isn’t sure if it’s enough against Zico, but it will have to do.

“Incoming ship!” Jongup exclaims at the helm, but the thunder turns his voice into a muffled shout.

Youngjae turns around, squinting at him through his goggles. “What?!”

Lightning crackles around them, nearly hitting the side of their ship. Youngjae’s eyes widen when he sees a ship coming up alongside them. It isn’t Zico’s ship nor is it Halosis, but it’s still a ship. Before he can make out anything else, everything goes dark again. The silhouette is still there in the rain like a predator waiting to pounce.

Youngjae heads up to the helm as his vision adjusts. “Did you see what that was?”

Jongup shakes his head. “No idea. I––“

“Captain!”

Youngjae looks down and sees Junhong poking his head out of the door to the lower deck. He makes his way to the door. Junhong is tense, his eyes wide, but underneath that… Youngjae can sense excitement.

“What’s going on?” Youngjae asks, pushing past Junhong into the narrow staircase. He pulls down his hood and lifts his goggles, shaking the few drops of water out of his hair.

“Someone’s on the radio,” Junhong says, hopping down the steps two at a time. “Pretty urgent.”

It’s coming from the other ship. Youngjae is sure of it. He steps into the radio room and picks up the receiver.

“Hello?” Youngjae asks. The line crackles with static as he waits for a reply.

“Eunkwang told me you’re going after Zico.”

It’s Himchan. Youngjae breathes a sigh of relief, but he doesn’t relax completely. The last thing he needs is a lecture from Himchan. “And?”

“You probably need some help with that, right?” Himchan asks. Youngjae can almost see the giddy smile on his face. “ _And_ , I happen to know where he’s going. A little bird told me that he’s taking Daehyun to some witch named Jieun on an island to the west. ”

Youngjae smiles, and his chest swells with warmth. He holds the receiver in his hands for a bit, stunned by the relief flowing through him. “Thanks, Himchan.”

“No problem,” Himchan replies. “Just follow me as soon as we get out of this storm.”

True to his word, Himchan is there at the end, his ship a ghostly silhouette against the clouds in the silver moonlight. The sun breaks through the horizon a couple hours later.

Youngjae leans against the wooden rail behind the wheel, fighting to stay awake. The sun rises in front of him, enveloping him in warmth. He knows he should get some sleep, but he can’t stop thinking about Daehyun. His stomach stirs with anxiety. His mind spins with a million possibilities of _what if_.

What if they don’t reach Zico in time? What if Youngjae isn’t strong enough against Zico? What if his entire crew dies trying to save Daehyun? What is this whole mission is just a waste of time?

Youngjae still feels the warmth from Daehyun’s lips against his even as the wind whips around him. He closes his eyes and clutches the rails hard enough to make his fingers ache.

He hears someone approaching behind him, their footsteps padding on the wood with caution. He hears Jongup’s voice, too soft for him to hear clearly. A different set of footsteps fades away, heavier than the last pair.

“Captain,” Jongup says.

Youngjae opens his eyes and turns around. Jongup stands at the wheel, facing Himchan’s ship. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“You should get some rest,” Jongup says, each word slow and careful.

“I can’t,” Youngjae replies, pushing away from the rail to stand beside Jongup.

He glances at Youngjae. “There’s no use in being up here. I’ll wake you up when something happens.”

“I just can’t stop worrying about Daehyun,” Youngjae whispers. He wraps his arms around himself, but it isn’t as satisfying. It isn’t the same as what he needs.

Jongup stays quiet.

Youngjae appreciates it.

“Junhong has a potion for you,” Jongup says. He digs around in his pocket and holds out a small violet potion. “He says it’s to help you sleep.”

Youngjae takes the bottle in his hands, twirling the bottle in his hands and watching how the glass glints in the rising sun. What would he do without his crew? He smiles and pats Jongup’s shoulder before heading down to his cabin. “Thanks, Jongup.”

“Just get some rest, Captain,” Jongup replies.

When Youngjae wakes up, the sun is already high in the sky. He busies himself with every job on the ship. This way, he doesn’t have to think. He doesn’t give his anxiety the chance to invade every thought in his mind.

In the afternoon, a falcon lands on the deck in front of Youngjae. He looks at it, blinking. He’s sure it’s Yongguk, but he doesn’t want to assume. Before he can say anything, the falcon explodes in a cloud of white smoke and feathers. He closes his eyes and takes a step back, holding his arms up to shield himself.

“Captain!” several people shout.

When the smoke clears, Yongguk stands before him with a small smile. He runs a hand through his hair to get a few stray feathers out before speaking. “Terribly sorry about the rude entrance, Captain.”

“Nice to see you, too, Yongguk,” Youngjae says. He waves away the small crowd that gathered around the commotion. They reluctantly walk away, throwing glances over their shoulders. “What’s going on?”

“Himchan wanted to send a message,” Yongguk replies.

Youngjae raises an eyebrow. “Couldn’t he have just used the radio?”

Yongguk shakes his head. “We can’t risk Zico finding out about our now.”

“Fair point. So, what’s Himchan’s message?” Youngjae asks.

“We’ll be landing on the island soon. Just follow our ship,” Yongguk replies.

“I never got the chance to ask, but which island is it?” Youngjae asks.

“What’s left of Japan.”

_What’s left of Japan_ , Youngjae thinks. He’s never been there before, but his father used to tell him ancient stories about a child with dangerous psychic abilities who leveled the entire city of Neo-Tokyo with a single scream and left it in shambles. He’s always wanted to see what it looks like now, nearly a thousand years later.

“Well, that’s the end of my message. I should head back,” Yongguk says with another smile. He steps onto the rail and right off the side of the ship.

Youngjae gasps. He runs to the rail, but Yongguk is nowhere to be found. Instead, he finds a gray falcon soaring through the wind towards Himchan’s ship.

“Captain!” Jongup calls. “Come look at this!”

Youngjae makes his way to the helm where Jongup stands with his tablet. “What is it?”

“When we clear the clouds, we should be able to see Japan,” Jongup says, pulling Youngjae to the rail behind the wheel.

When the ship clears the clouds, the sea glimmers beneath them, and to their right is Japan. The island is engulfed entirely in trees and wildlife with specks of rusted metal peeking underneath it. A massive lake sits where Neo-Tokyo used to be, a perfect semi-circle by the bay like someone scooped out a chunk of the land with a spoon.

“Someone told me a nuclear bomb did that,” Jongup says.

“My father told me about a child with telekinesis,” Youngjae says.

“They’re both true,” someone says behind them. Youngjae and Jongup turn around to find Junhong. He looks down at the island with disdain. “It used to just be _Tokyo_ , but some asshole nation decided to bomb it. It became Neo-Tokyo after it was rebuilt, and the government began experimenting on children with weird psychic abilities. They couldn’t have known that one of their experiments would explode in their faces. They had it coming, though.”

Youngjae doesn’t know how to reply. He’s never seen Junhong full of this much hate before. He doesn’t talk much about his past. All Youngjae knows is that he came from Japan.

“How do you know all this?” Jongup asks.

Junhong takes a deep breath. “I grew up listening to glorified stories about human experimentation and nuclear bombs. I couldn’t take it anymore because there’s a point in your life where you have to say ‘fuck it’ and just leave.”

Youngjae almost wants to say something, but the look of unbridled disgust on Junhong’s face stops him.

//

Both Youngjae and Himchan’s ships dock in a large cove on the southern side of the island. They wait on the beach as Yongguk flies off to scout the land for Zico and Jieun.

“So, what’s the plan?” Himchan asks, rolling up his sleeves. He sits across from Youngjae and Jongup on the beach.

Before Youngjae can reply, Jongup leans forward, his eyes going wide. “Did you get a new arm? Can I touch it?”

Himchan simply detaches his arm and hands it to Jongup. He’s used to letting Jongup fawn over each new prosthetic. “Anyway, Youngjae, plans.”

Youngjae furrows his eyebrows in thought and crosses his arms over his chest. “He’s bound to have people with him when he’s headed to Jieun, but he’ll leave the rest of his crew on his ship. We can split up and have one group attack the ship as a diversion, then have the other group go after him before he reaches Jieun.”

“It’s solid,” Himchan replies with an approving nod. “With our crews, we outnumber him. It might actually work.”

“How should we split up, then?” Youngjae asks. “Knowing Zico, he’d bring his most capable with him to Jieun, but we shouldn’t chase him down with a large group either.”

“Four or five people is reasonable, right?” Himchan asks. “I’m coming with you, of course.”

“Count me in,” Junhong says, sitting on Youngjae’s other side. “I know my way around the area, so I can take you to Jieun’s place.”

“Thanks, Junhong.” Youngjae nudges Jongup. “Can I trust you to watch over the other group?”

“Of course you can. I’m not your second-in-command for nothing,” Jongup replies with a scoff. He gives Himchan’s arm back. “That’s some nice craftsmanship there. Is this Parisian machinery?”

Himchan locks the arm back into place, testing the fingers and grip, and looks at Jongup with a grin. “You guessed right.”

Yongguk flies in, transforming mid-air and landing on the sand with a soft thud. He brushes a couple feathers off and sits beside Himchan. “Zico plans to leave tonight. I couldn’t find Daehyun, though.”

Panic shoots through Youngjae. “Do you think he’s dead?”

“No, he has to be alive for the ritual,” Junhong says. Everybody turns to look at him, but he continues. “A star’s heart is most potent in the moments it’s still beating.”

Youngjae thinks of Daehyun strapped to a table with an old woman holding a knife over his chest. He thinks of the blood spilling out of Daehyun's chest. He thinks of the light fading from Daehyun's eyes.

"We'll leave just before sunset," Junhong says. "If we walk quickly, we can reach Jieun's place before Zico and ambush them when they get there."

"But why does he need to bring Daehyun to Jieun in the first place?" Himchan asks. "What's so special about her?"

"She gives Zico the tools to take the star out of the sky, he brings the star back to her, they split the heart, and Jieun is content until she needs another one," Junhong explains.

Youngjae holds up a hand to stop Junhong. "I thought only one heart gives eternal life. What do you mean by 'another one'?"

“Nothing can truly give someone ‘eternal life’,” Junhong says. “It only adds a couple hundred years to a person’s lifespan, but nobody else knows that. By the time the person who helped her is on their deathbed, she’s already on the hunt for another heart.”

"And how do you know all this?" Jongup asks.

Something dark flickers in Junhong's eyes, but it's gone before Youngjae can try to decipher it. "It’s…not important."

Nobody says anything. Youngjae wonders exactly how Junhong is tied to Jieun.

Junhong takes a deep breath and leans back on his palms. “And that's all I know about Jieun and the stars. Don't ask me anything else."

“Thanks, Junhong,” Youngjae says. He stands up and stretches his arms. “Alright, we should start getting ready. Himchan, come with me so we can tell everybody our plan.”

//

Lightning is a fickle object. Without the proper guidance, it can be just as dangerous to the person who wields it. Youngjae’s been burned by lightning before, and he can’t be sure he’ll stay unscathed as soon as he unlocks the bolts keeping it in its confines, but years spent with it lowers the chances of getting hurt. Instead of letting his fear take over, he focuses on the excitement and adrenaline coursing through his body.

They attack Zico’s ship after he leaves with Daehyun. It takes Youngjae’s entire willpower not to chase after them. He watches as his and Himchan’s crews charge the ship. Lightning bolts light up the dimming sky, setting fire to the ship’s wooden frame. Zico’s crew scramble out like ants spilling out of their hill.

“Youngjae?” Junhong asks, placing a hand on Youngjae’s shoulder. When he turns around, he sees determination on his face, flickering as the fire dances ahead of them. “We’re leaving now.”

Youngjae nods without saying a word.

Junhong squeezes Youngjae’s shoulder before walking down onto the sandy beach with Himchan and Yongguk.

Youngjae looks back once more at the burning ship. He knows the casualties will be high tonight. He just hopes it will all be worth it.

Night falls quickly in the forest leading to Jieun. Junhong walks with wide strides like he can see a distinct path in the endless green. Bamboo trees thicker than Youngjae himself grow through crumbling buildings and rusted metal structures. Junhong occasionally brushes his hand against the rectangular stones he passes and mumbles something under his breath. Youngjae and Himchan have a hard time keeping up with him. Yongguk, on the other hand, is in the sky, looking out for Zico.

“Junhong, you’re going too fast,” Youngjae calls out. “When you told us you knew where you were going, I didn’t think you meant down to the exact path.”

Junhong brushes by another stone, whispers something, then glances back at Youngjae. “Sorry. It’s, um, force of habit.”

Youngjae knows Junhong kept his past hidden for good reasons, so he doesn’t press the subject. “It’s good we’re going as quick as we are, though.”

Junhong doesn’t say anything. He hops over a pile of leaves in front of him. “Watch out. There’s a pit beneath that.”

“Thanks,” Youngjae and Himchan say as they step around it.

The forest around them is almost as dark as a void. The treetops block most of the moonlight, but patches of pale light filter through the sparse spaces in between the leaves. Everything is quiet except for their heavy footsteps landing on the ground and the buzzing insects. The air around them is crisp and chilling to the bone. It makes Youngjae uneasy. He’s used to the instant flash of lightning, or the pale moonlight shining down on the open sea.

He isn’t used to this sort of perpetual darkness.

“We’re almost there,” Junhong says. His voice goes quieter, carrying an almost reverent tone in it. “Her palace.”

Something begins to glow beyond the trees. It glows a warm orange and pierces through the darkness like a sunrise. Junhong begins walking faster until he’s sprinting through the forest, forgetting about Youngjae and Himchan.

Youngjae glances at Himchan before they run after him. Stray leaves and branches whip against Youngjae’s exposed skin, but he can only see Junhong’s retreating back. His heart pounds in his chest. Why is Junhong running? What’s going on? Is something happening ahead of them? Is something chasing them? He only hopes it has nothing to do with Daehyun.

Junhong suddenly stops. Youngjae grabs Junhong by the shoulder and spins his around as he tries to catch his breath. “Junhong, what the hell was that?”

“They already started.” Junhong points to the side. “I’m so sorry.”

Youngjae follows Junhong’s arm, his heart sinking further into his stomach with each second that passes. A palace that brushes the bamboo leaves at the top stands in the middle of a clearing. A babbling creek runs through the clearing, and a bridge crosses over it right to the front of the palace. The entire building is alight with torches, illuminating the entire clearing. A window at the very top glows with light. The palace itself is bleached white with a slanting dark tiled roof.

“You weren’t kidding when you called it a palace,” Himchan whispers with awe in his voice.

“They should be up there,” Junhong says, pointing at the top window.

A scream pierces the air. It scratches against Youngjae’s ears with desperate claws, but he knows who it belongs to.

Yongguk lands behind Himchan and looks at them with wide eyes. “What _was_ that?”

“That was Daehyun,” Youngjae whispers. His hands fall from Junhong’s shoulders, and he takes his pistol out.

“Youngjae,” Himchan says, slow and careful, “think about what you’re going to do.”

Youngjae turns to glare at Himchan, only to be met with worry, and he scowls. “I’ve _been_ thinking since I stepped off Zico’s ship. Himchan, my life so far has been a collection of one shitty decision after another. Let me do something _right_ for once.”

“You know that isn’t true.” Junhong takes Youngjae’s empty hand and drops a couple magazines inside it. “Ask anybody on our crew, and they’ll tell you something different. It was you alone who decided to save everyone on your crew. That’s why they’re fighting for you right now.”

Youngjae gulps. He pockets the magazines. It wasn’t what he was expecting from Junhong, but he appreciates it. “Thanks.”

“I was never good at heartfelt conversations,” Himchan whispers to Yongguk.

“No, not really,” Yongguk replies. To Youngjae, he asks, “What do you want me to do?”

Youngjae looks up at the palace. “Can you take me to that top balcony?”

Yongguk nods. “Of course.”

“I need you two to take out everybody you see inside,” Youngjae says to Himchan and Junhong. He turns to Yongguk. “Head back into the sky and keep a lookout.”

“You’re going alone?” Himchan asks.

“I have to,” Youngjae says.

Junhong frowns. “Captain, Jieun is a descendant of the survivors from the experiments. She’s a witch with _telekinetic_ abilities. That isn’t something you should face alone.”

“I’ve made up my mind, Junhong. We’re leaving it at that.” Youngjae slips his pistol into his waistband. “Will you two be alright?”

Junhong sighs, seeing the futility in trying to argue with Youngjae. “It won’t just be the two of us.” Under his breath, he adds, “Because I’m not an idiot.”

“It…won’t?” Himchan asks, looking at Junhong with confusion.

Junhong snaps his fingers. The air around them grows colder. The wind picks up in a powerful gust. Youngjae is momentarily blinded when the world bursts into silver light. Excited shouts reach his ears. When his eyes adjust, he sees pale blue and shimmering silver streaks of light rushing through the air.

“They’re…ghosts,” Youngjae whispers, looking up at them in awe and terror. “Junhong, what did you do?”

“Basic summoning spells whenever we passed by a gravestone,” Junhong replies. He holds his hand up to a light and smiles when it curls around his fingertips. “These spirits hold plenty of ill-will towards Jieun. It wasn’t hard asking them for help.”

Himchan frowns, jerking away whenever a light––or spirit––gets too close. “You mean those were _gravestones_?”

“Yeah. I thought it was pretty obvious, but I guess not,” Junhong says. He turns to Youngjae. “Anyway, we’ll be fine.”

Youngjae looks at Junhong, Himchan, and Yongguk. “So, we’re all clear?”

Himchan and Yongguk nod. Junhong does the same, though with more reluctance than the other two.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Yongguk transforms into a bird as tall as Youngjae. He climbs onto Yongguk’s back and holds onto his feathers as they rise higher. When they reach the treetops, the moonlight washes over everything. Youngjae takes a moment to admire the silent, silver beauty of the world beneath them. Yongguk dives back into the forest, navigating and weaving past branches to the palace. Youngjae closes his eyes as the wind howls past him. The balcony grows closer with each passing second, and he feels his stomach twist itself into knots. Then, everything stops. Yongguk lands on the balcony, lighter than a feather. Youngjae steps onto the wood and smiles at Yongguk.

“Thank you,” Youngjae whispers, placing his hand on his head. “Tell everyone I say thank you.”

The sound that comes out of Yongguk’s beak is a cross between understanding and resigned, but he takes off moments later.

Youngjae draws in a deep breath and walks to the light.

Youngjae slides open the wood and paper door, and steps inside. He finds himself in a hall with twisting walls and corridors. It looks completely different from its brilliant exterior. Deep red stains run down the walls in thin rivulets and pool on the wooden floor. Thick, dusty cobwebs hang from the ceiling. Burning torches line the wall, ash gathering on the floor underneath it.

“What are you doing in here?“ a voice asks from nowhere and everywhere all at once. From the timbre deep enough to be a growl, Youngjae can tell it's Zico.

"I'm here to take Daehyun back," Youngjae says. He's surprised his voice doesn't tremble.

The walls around Youngjae go completely quiet. Only the sound of his steps on the wooden floor reaches his ears.

"Didn't I tell you that you shouldn't come after her?” Zico asks. He sighs, a huff of air that reverberates through the walls. “Even before, you never followed my orders.”

"Only because you're the biggest dick of the century," Youngjae spits. He rounds a corner, gripping his pistol in his hand. "Where the hell are you?"

"Good luck finding us," Zico says. He laughs, low and menacing. "You should hurry, though––"

"We're at the center of the top floor!" Daehyun exclaims, and Youngjae stops walking. He grunts, like he's pushing someone aside. "Find the mirror shaped like a crescent––" He cuts himself off with an abrupt scream. "Let me go!"

"You bitch!" Zico hisses. A slap resounds through the air like the quick crack of a whip.

Daehyun whimpers.

Youngjae winces.

Youngjae follows the blood-stained wall until he comes to a door. He slides it open and faces a wall similar to the one before. He furrows his eyebrows. It looks the same, but there’s no other way to get to the center. He walks until he finds a door. When he opens it, he frowns. It’s the same. Youngjae goes through three more doors before he realizes it’s all repeating. It’s the same stains, the same cobwebs. _Everything_ is the same, and he’s still nowhere near the center.

“Hey! What’s going on?!” Youngjae shouts at the ceiling.

Zico laughs, taunting and malicious. “Having fun?”

“Not really,” Youngjae says. He doesn’t appreciate being toyed with.

“This is getting boring,” someone else says. It’s a woman’s voice, thick like syrup and smooth as smoke. “I’m bringing him up.”

Before Youngjae can do anything else, he feels something invisible lift him off his feet and drag him through the corridors. The force jerks him upward, his head whipped back against his shoulders. He’s moving too fast to register anything else. He doesn’t know if the paralyzing fear is just him or some spell was cast on him. Either way, he can’t move, he doesn’t know where he’s going, and he’s pretty sure he’s about to hit the ceiling at the speed that he’s going up now.

But just before Youngjae hits the rotting wooden beams, that same jerking force pulls him to the side and throws him onto a smooth bamboo floor. He groans as his body aches, his bones cracking in several joints. He waits for the pain to subside as he gets on his knees and elbows.

“Glad you could make it to the party,” Zico says.

When Youngjae looks up, he sees Zico leaning on a table draped in shining white satin, his arms crossed above his chest. Behind him on an elevated throne sits a woman with hair as black as soot. She wears a flowing red kimono that pools around her like liquid fire. Her features are fox-like and elongated to near harsh points. She looks down at Youngjae with eyes as sharp as her high cheekbones. The crescent mirror that Daehyun mentioned hangs on the wall behind her.

“I thought you said this was going to be interesting,” she says to Zico.

“It will be. Just be patient,” Zico replies.

Youngjae slowly gets up, wincing at the way his body protests. He looks between Zico and the woman.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” the woman asks. Her smile shows a set of fangs. She stands up, a movement as elegant and fluid as molten lava.

Youngjae blinks, and suddenly the woman is holding Youngjae’s chin, searing fingers and claw-like nails pressing into his skin. Her body is so close to Youngjae’s, he feels the silken kimono brush against his skin. The scent of burning wood floods his senses, wispy as smoke rising in the sky.

“I’m the witch of this side of the island, or Jieun,” she says. Her eyes flash with something full of lust and hunger, and her tongue darts out to lick her cherry lips. “And your soul looks delicious.”

Youngjae stares into Jieun’s eyes, entranced and unable to resist the pull. He shivers. The hand gripping his chin is almost hot enough to burn, but the voids he stares into Youngjae are frigid cold.

“You can feed your demon later,” Zico says, annoyance lining his voice.

Jieun blinks, and Youngjae is free. He pulls in a deep breath as he rips himself away from Jieun’s hand.

“Where’s Daehyun?” Youngjae asks.

Zico pushes off the table and pulls the satin sheet to the floor.

Youngjae thinks he’s going to be sick. Daehyun lies on the table, his chest gaping open. Blood as red as Jieun’s lips stains Daehyun’s shirt. His skin has never looked so pale.

Something stirs inside Youngjae, something stronger and more raw than anger. He screams so loud, he can feel it clawing his throat dry. In that moment, red tints his vision. He draws his sword and charges at Zico.

Before Youngjae can reach him, someone drops down from the beams and stops him. He takes a deep breath, clearing his vision to see...himself. His sword is buried deep in the body of someone who looks exactly like him, but somehow, he knows this… _thing_ isn’t human. There’s always the slightest resistance just before a blade breaks through the skin, but his sword slid right through like he was cutting water.

“What is this?” Youngjae mutters.

The double draws his own sword, unaffected by the one inside of him, and swings. Youngjae jumps back with a yelp. He turns to look at Zico and frowns when he sees a smug smirk on his face.

“Ever heard of golems?” Zico asks.

The double takes the sword out of his torso and throws it to the floor with a loud _clang_ , and stares at Youngjae, his eyes dark and dead.

“They’re usually made of clay, but do you know what brings them to life?” Zico asks.

Youngjae huffs. He doesn’t have the patience to humor Zico right now. Outside of the witchcraft book he picked up in China a couple years ago, magic is unfamiliar territory to him. Something like a _golem_ is out of his range of knowledge.

“Human hair,” Zico says.

Youngjae’s wide-eyed stare flicks back and forth between Zico and the golem. He thinks back to the witch in Skystead who asked for his hair. He _knew_ it was going to be a bad idea, so he doesn’t know why he’s so surprised now. He just wants to know _how_ Zico got a hold of it.

Jieun smiles and stands up, brushing a hand across the golem’s cheek. Youngjae swears he can feel it on his own cheek. “You see, I specialize in creating golems. Once they come alive, they’re just like humans, only _much_ more obedient.”

“How did you get my hair?” Youngjae asks.

“My golems are in every corner of the world. The witch in Skystead is just one of _thousands_ ,” Jieun says before Zico can even start. “I had Zico retrieve it for me so I could make your own little golem.”

Youngjae frowns. “Then, what was the potion for?”

“What potion? You never mentioned anything about a _potion_!” Zico exclaims, anger flaring on his face as he turns to look at Jieun.

A look that rests somewhere between amused and proud crosses Jieun’s face. She laughs. “Imagine how much more _interesting_ this little game could have been.”

That’s when Youngjae realizes that not even Zico was in control. This was never his own game. He’s been a pawn just like everyone else.

Youngjae glances at his sword to the side, wondering if he can grab it before the golem can reach him. With Jieun and the golem distracted, Youngjae thinks it’s now or never. He dives to the right with the sword in his sights and just in his reach.

Reflecting on his own decision, Youngjae thinks it’s dumb that he didn’t consider that the golem has a gun too.

He gasps as the bullet buries itself into his left shoulder. He grits his teeth as he rolls onto his back. He presses his hand to his shoulder and stumbles to his feet. He looks at the golem and the gun that’s still smoking in his hands. It’s only a matter of time before the pain will set in, or he’ll faint from blood loss. _This is nothing_ , he tries to convince himself as his right palm becomes sticky with blood.

“You’re right, Zico. This _has_ been interesting,” Jieun says. When she turns to Youngjae, her amusement melts off her face like burning candle wax and turns into disdain. “But I’ve had enough fun.”

_It has to end now._ Youngjae reaches for his gun, and aims at Jieun with a shaking arm. He just raises an eyebrow, and all of Youngjae’s doubts flood his mind.

_But you’re just a bolt-chaser_.

The realization that Daehyun is _gone_ finally sets in.

When Youngjae sucks in a breath, it shakes like his arm. This was a bad idea. It’s all been for nothing. What made him think he could take on both Jieun and Zico _alone_? He drops to his knees. Darkness creeps at the edges of his vision, threatening to swallow him up entirely. His vision blurs, and when he blinks, hot tears leave cool trails against his cheeks.

Jieun kneels down in front of Youngjae, taking Youngjae’s chin into his hand. “A soul is most delicious in despair, and I hope you know that I can’t wait to eat yours.”

Youngjae realizes that right now is the worst time to wallow in self-pity and mourning. He may be vastly outmatched by Jieun and Zico, but that doesn’t mean he has to give up.

Youngjae grabs onto Jieun’s wrist and twists it. She winces, the first crack in her mask, and tries to grab onto Youngjae, but he ducks out of the way. He dives for his sword again, dodging Zico when he tries to reach for him. He grabs his sword and gets to his feet.

A laugh comes out of Zico’s mouth. “You’re just a little bird. What can you do?”

In that instant, Youngjae’s thoughts flash to Zico and everything he’s done. The fear he once felt begins to boil into resentment. He trembles, but not from fear anymore. When he meets Zico’s eyes, he sheathes his sword again. Zico furrows his eyebrows, trying to figure out what Youngjae is going to do.

Youngjae lifts his gun, aiming at one of Zico’s eyes, and pulls the trigger without a second thought. “This little bird will peck your fucking eyes out.”

Zico falls to his knees, his hand coming up to his eye. Bright red blood spills from his right eye as he screams. Youngjae considers shooting him again, but he thinks that would be too merciful.

When Youngjae turns to Jieun, he’s surprised to see a frown on her face.

“Get up,” Jieun says, his voice cold and demanding. “You look pathetic.”

Zico tenses. He stands on shaking legs without a word, still pressing his eye with the heel of his palm. It’s surreal to see him bend so easily to someone else’s will. It’s something Youngjae never thought he would see in his lifetime.

But now, the trembles in Youngjae’s body are gone. He aims his gun at Jieun.

“You don’t actually believe you can take me down with just a _gun_ , do you?” Jieun asks with a scoff. With a wave of her hand, an invisible force shoves Youngjae’s hands to his sides and lifts him off the ground. “That’s much better.”

“What are you doing?” Youngjae exclaims, struggling against Jieun’s hold. “Hey, put me down!”

“This isn’t actually Daehyun,” Jieun says. She snaps her fingers, and Daehyun’s body and Youngjae’s golem dissolve into two piles of dried clay. “Zico said it would be more entertaining if we made you believe that he was already dead, and look what happened. You _shot_ him in the eye. I’d like to thank you for being one of the most interesting humans I’ve encountered thus far.”

Jieun just spewed out a handful of words to Youngjae, but the only thing that stuck in his mind was _This isn’t actually Daehyun_.

“Where’s Daehyun now?” Youngjae asks.

Jieun frowns. “Is Daehyun all you talk about?”

“Considering he’s the only reason I’m here right now, yes,” Youngjae replies. “I apologize if this conversation topic isn’t _interesting_ enough for you.”

Jieun grits her teeth. She waves her hand again, and the reflection in the mirror begins moving in undulating waves. A rift opens up, the edges glowing and coming apart like ripped seams, and Daehyun emerges from it, frozen in the middle of shouting something. The rift in the mirror closes, and Jieun snaps her fingers.

Daehyun is caught in the middle of a scream. He stops when he sees Youngjae in the air. “Youngjae?! What…happened?”

The relief that floods Youngjae’s mind overtakes everything else because _Daehyun is alive_ , and all he can manage is a small smile and a quiet, “Hey. We came to save you.”

Daehyun looks back and forth between Youngjae, Jieun, and Zico, his happiness twisting into horror as he realizes that everything isn’t okay. “Youngjae…” His voice is quiet and scared as he backs away from Jieun and Zico. He gasps when his back hits the table. “D-don’t––“

The doors behind Youngjae burst open with a loud explosion. He strains his neck to look, but only catches a glimpse of splintered wood and tattered paper.

“What the _hell_ happened?” Himchan shouts. “Youngjae, why are you in the air?!”

Jieun glares at Zico, completely unfazed by the burning hole in the room. “Why are you just standing there? If you want half the heart, keep them busy while I prepare the star.” She turns to Daehyun, waving her hand once, and Daehyun is in the air, screaming and struggling.

“Can you take care of Zico?” Youngjae hears Junhong ask.

Zico rips a strip of cloth from his shirt and wraps it around his eye. He takes a deep breath before drawing his sword. “Ah, Himchan, it’s always nice to see your gay ass.”

“I like the new look. Very retro,” Himchan replies. He draws his own sword. “What a _shame_ , though. It knocks a couple levels off your intimidation.”

Junhong walks past Youngjae to Jieun with a gun in his hand. “Lady Jieun.”

“I knew you would always return to me. You think I didn’t see the spirits you summoned?” Jieun asks without turning around, his attention on keeping Daehyun down. “No wonder that bird got up here so easily.”

Youngjae stares at Junhong’s back. He’s tense. His hands are clenched so tight, his knuckles are pale. His shoulders rise and fall with even breaths.

“I still remember what you taught me, no matter how useless,” Junhong replies.

“You were the most talented out of my disciples,” Jieun says. She turns from Daehyun to Junhong with something like nostalgia in her eyes. “You were going to be my successor.”

“I’ll join you again only if you let them go,” Junhong says. “I’ll… I’ll become your disciple.”

Something sparks in Jieun’s eyes, bright and full of sadistic joy.

“Junhong, what are you saying?!” Youngjae exclaims. He refuses to trade Daehyun’s life for another. That isn’t how this plan was supposed to go.

Junhong glances at Youngjae over his shoulder with a resigned smile on his face. An emotion so cold doesn’t belong there. “Sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier, Captain. It didn’t…seem important at the time.”

“Important, my ass! You’re coming back with us to the ship if I have to drag your corpse!” Youngjae shouts. He wriggles his entire body in an attempt to break free, but it’sdifficult to do when his binds are invisible.

Junhong places his gun on the floor and begins to walk to Jieun. The closer Junhong gets, Jieun’s demeanor changes from calm and collected to something more hopeful and giddy. From where Youngjae is, it almost looks…like childish excitement.

“My dear Junhong,” Jieun whispers. She holds her arms out and places her hands on Junhong’s shoulders, squeezing pale fingers. “Do you mean it?”

“Yes, my lady,” Junhong says, but it sounds like he’s forcing it out through his teeth.

“Junhong!” Youngjae shouts. “Don’t do this!”

“Himchan! Now!” Junhong exclaims. He dives to the side and out of Jieun’s hands.

Himchan shoves past Zico, pistol in his hand, and shoots.

The bullet flies into Jieun, and she screams. Youngjae drops to the floor onto his knees, his binds suddenly gone. When he looks up, he sees Jieun clutching her side, her eyes blown wide as she sinks to the floor. Blood drips from her side and pools in the wood like her kimono itself is melting off of her.

“Okay, holy Neptune, _that_ happened,” Himchan whispers, lowering the pistol to his side. He quickly aims his pistol at Zico. “Try anything, and I’m taking off your head.”

Junhong hops over Jieun’s slumped figure to Daehyun. “Come on, we gotta go before she gets up.”

Youngjae gets to his feet, wobbling a bit. He keeps a steady hand pressed against his shoulder. As soon as Daehyun gets on his feet, he runs to Youngjae and wraps his arms around him. Youngjae nearly stumbles to the floor again from the impact.

“Daehyun, careful… The shoulder,” Youngjae says through gritted teeth.

Daehyun gasps, leaning away and brushing his fingers against the wound. “Right. Sorry. That looks bad.”

Youngjae wraps his right arm around Daehyun’s waist and brings him closer, burying his face into the crook of Daehyun’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ll be okay.”

Daehyun begins pushing Youngjae away. “No, Youngjae, you––“

“You’re all pathetic,” Jieun says, but something deeper lurks just behind her voice. She laughs, beginning low and deep in her chest and growing louder until she’s screaming. She throws her head back to the ceiling. “Absolutely pathetic!”

“You’ve angered her,” Zico whispers. When Youngjae looks at him, he looks afraid. He slowly backs away, inching towards the hole in the door. “There’s no going back now.”

“You’re not going _anywhere_ ,” Jieun says. The hole closes up and seals off, forcing Zico to stay where he is. Some invisible force lifts Jieun up, holding her up like a marionette on a string. Her entire body slumps forward, her hair masking her face. If Youngjae looks closely, he can see the flickering silhouette of a fox behind her. “I still need to feed.”

“What’s happening to her?” Daehyun asks, gripping Youngjae’s shirt.

Junhong stands in front of Youngjae, Daehyun, and Himchan. “A fox demon possessed her hundreds of years ago. It’s breaking through her body now. It eats human’s souls, but recently, it began eating the hearts of stars. _This_ is why I left. I couldn’t take being her disciple anymore.”

The air grows hotter. A vicious wind howls through the room. Jieun’s long raven hair whips around her. A wicked smile spreads across her face.

“How are we supposed to stop her?” Himchan asks.

“You can’t!” Zico shouts above the wind. His eyes are wide and maniacal. “There’s no way! Embrace the sweet release of death, you bastards!”

“There’s gotta be something!” Youngjae exclaims. He pulls out his pistol and shoots.

Jieun flicks his wrist to deflect the bullet and laughs.

“Not your best idea,” Himchan says.

_So, this is how it ends_ , Youngjae thinks to himself. His soul will be eaten by a demon. His body will be left here to rot. His crew will mourn him. It’s almost a little humiliating if he thinks about it. He always thought he’d die in a thunderstorm.

“If… If we destroy Jieun’s body, it’ll force the demon out of her, and it’ll have to find a new human host,” Junhong says, his voice quivering.

Jieun howls with a broken, deranged laugh. “I’ll heal before you can even try. It’ll be interesting to watch, though.”

Daehyun pulls away from Youngjae to stand beside Junhong. “So… We just have to make sure the demon has nothing left to hang on to, right?”

Youngjae grabs Daehyun’s wrist, desperate. He can feel Daehyun’s heartbeat in his palm. “Daehyun, what are you doing?”

Daehyun smiles, surging forward to press his lips against Youngjae’s. When he pulls back, Youngjae sees a spark of a white flame in Daehyun’s fingertips. He removes his wrist from Youngjae’s hand, and whispers something to Junhong. His face lights up.

“That could work,” Junhong says. He glances back at Youngjae. “Are you okay with that?”

What else is Youngjae supposed to say? How is he supposed to choose between his life and Daehyun’s when he’s risked his life for Daehyun’s since the beginning? He swallows the painful lump in his throat. He nods, not breaking eye contact with Daehyun.

“Thank you,” Daehyun says. The kindness and gratitude in his eyes almost makes Youngjae want to break down right there.

Daehyun steps in front of Jieun with determination in his eyes. He trembles like a leaf in the wind, but he doesn’t step down.

“I was hoping to save you for last,” Jieun says with apparent disappointment. “But this is fine, too.”

“Guys, hold onto me,” Junhong whispers.

“This is for knocking me out of the sky!” Daehyun screams.

Youngjae grips the fabric of Junhong’s shirt and closes his eyes before a bright flash of light completely blinds him. He hears an inhuman screech, growing louder with each second. It’s cut short before it can reach a final crescendo. The world goes quiet. His ears ring. When he opens his eyes, he’s back in the room. Everything is pristine and just the way it was before.

“What is this?” Himchan asks, letting go of Junhong’s shirt and looking around. “Where are we?”

“Inside the mirror. Lady Jieun taught me how to open and enter portals to pocket dimensions through mirrors before I left,” Junhong replies. He sits on the bamboo floor and sighs. “Turns out not everything she taught me was useless.”

Himchan falls to the floor beside Junhong. “Thank Neptune you got us out of there when you did.”

Youngjae stares at the mirror change from a white void to an endless blanket of twinkling stars. He can see the Lyra constellation in the center of the crescent. He wonders what happens to Daehyun after he dies. Does he get sent back to the sky? Does he turn into stardust to be scattered in the wind?

“Youngjae?” Junhong says. He gets up and puts a warm hand on his shoulder. “Youngjae, you’re crying.”

Youngjae wipes his cheeks with the back of his hand, and he frowns when it comes back wet with tears. His voice comes out quiet and choked when he speaks. “Yeah. I guess I am.”

“I’m sorry it ended like this,” Himchan whispers.

Youngjae closes his eyes and nods. “Me too.”

His breath hitches when he feels arms wrap around him. They aren’t Daehyun’s, but it’s an embrace nonetheless, and he finds himself sobbing into Junhong’s chest. His breath quivers. His chest heaves. His head spins. He’s so _tired_.

Daehyun is gone.

Finally, truly _gone_.

Youngjae doesn’t think he’ll be able to handle this unbearable weight for the rest of his waking life.

Junhong and Himchan are silent the entire time. Youngjae doesn’t know how much time passes before he manages to pull together a sad facade of composure. He pulls away from Junhong and wipes his face with his sleeve. He takes a deep breath and faces them.

“Thank you,” Youngjae says.

“You should do something about that shoulder before you bleed out,” Junhong says. His voice is thick and lined with regret. He rips off the sleeve of his shirt and cuts it into strips. Youngjae knows this is Junhong’s way of distracting himself, so he quietly watches Junhong wrap his arm with the strips.

“We should get going soon,” Youngjae says when Junhong ties off the ends of the fabric. “Our crews will start to wonder what happened to us.”

Himchan places a hand on Youngjae’s other shoulder and squeezes. “We’re ready when you are.”

Youngjae nods. “Let’s go.”

When they emerge on the other side, Jieun’s palace is in complete ruin. Burnt pieces of wood, paper, and metal litter the grass, scattered all over. What’s left of the main building––about the first three floors––is steadily burning. The entire forest is lit up. A thick pillar of black smoke rises into the gray sky. Neither Jieun nor Zico could have survived this.

That also means Daehyun couldn’t have either.

“Is it dawn already? How long were we inside that mirror?” Himchan asks, stretching his limbs. “Shouldn’t it be about midnight right now?”

“It’s not the mirror. It’s Lady Jieun’s palace itself. Time always flowed differently inside it.” Junhong looks up at the palace, his eyes glowing a bright orange from the fire.

“Okay, where’s Yongguk? We need to head back,” Himchan mutters. He begins wandering around the courtyard, his hands cupped around his mouth. “Yongguk!”

Youngjae walks in the opposite direction to help look. He doesn’t know exactly what he’s looking for, whether it be human, bird, or whatever else Yongguk can transform into.

“Captain, over here.”

Youngjae whips around to find Yongguk sitting on the ground, cradling Daehyun’s head in his lap. His breath hitches. He can feel his heart racing as he slowly makes his way to them. His body feels like it’s submerged beneath the ocean.

“Yongguk, is that…” Youngjae can’t even finish. He kneels in front of Yongguk and Daehyun, eyes widening when he sees the tiniest rise and fall of Daehyun’s chest. “How…”

“He jumped out of the palace after an explosion of light. I managed to catch him before he hit the ground, but he was unconscious by the time I landed. He’s weak, but he’s still alive,” Yongguk explains.

_Still alive_ , Youngjae thinks. He almost begins crying again. He brushes a few stray strands of silver hair away from Daehyun’s face.

“I don’t know how to thank you enough,” Youngjae whispers.

Yongguk smiles. “Take care of him. I’ll go find the others.”

Yongguk stands up, carefully placing Daehyun’s head on the grass. Youngjae lays down beside Daehyun, taking his hand into his own. It’s warm. He closes his eyes, feeling the faint heartbeat in his palm.

//

Youngjae has glimpses of consciousness in between the infinite darkness.

Cool air brushes against his face and whistles in his ears. Warmth envelopes his entire body. Soft feathers tickle his nose. Shouts and gunshots reach his ears. Bright light flashes behind his closed eyelids. Someone grabs onto his arm, hooking it around a neck. He struggles to open his eyes. He feels his head roll back onto his shoulders. A voice says something to him, but he can’t make out what it is.

The stinging in his shoulder throbs like an undulating wave of pain.

“Can you get the bullet out?” someone asks, their voice muddled and watered down like Youngjae is submerged beneath ten feet of water.

Another voice scoffs in response. “Of course I can. I’m not a doctor for nothing.”

A sigh. “I know… I’m just worried.”

“Jongup, he’ll be fine. Between Hyosung’s training and my magic, he’ll be healed in the next couple of days.”

The last wave of pain recedes like the low tide, leaving Youngjae in the middle of an ocean of nothingness.

//

Youngjae opens his eyes to sunlight and the soft warmth of cotton sheets. He blinks. He’s on his ship. A door opens, then closes. He turns his head to find Jongup walk in. He sits up as Jongup walks up to him.

“Oh, good, you’re finally awake. I didn’t think a bullet would leave you unconscious for four days straight, but here we are,” he says as he sits on the chair beside Youngjae’s bed. He looks into his tablet and taps the screen a couple times. “Hyosung took the bullet out of your shoulder and Junhong healed most of it, so be sure to thank them, alright? Anyway, we took down Zico’s ship with the lightning, so check that off as a success. Also, I’m going to assume you killed Zico in Jieun’s palace, so check that off as a success, too. Am I missing anything? Oh, we’re headed to Xalo for supplies––“

“Jongup,” Youngjae croaks. He _just_ woke up after––apparently––sleeping for four days, and Jongup is talking a mile a minute. This is too much for him to handle right now.

Jongup looks up, then laughs. “Oh, sorry. This is a lot to take in, isn’t it?”

Youngjae nods.

“Right, so, let me get you some food and I’ll let you get ready,” Jongup says. He stands from the chair and walks to the door. “Take your time.”

“Wait, Jongup,” Youngjae calls out.

Jongup turns around, his hand resting on the knob. “Yes, Captain?”

“What happened to Daehyun?” Youngjae asks. He has to know that Daehyun is okay. He sees Jongup tense just the slightest bit, almost small enough to go unnoticed, but he still saw it and his stomach churns with uncertainty. “Jongup?”

“He’s fine,” Jongup replies. He opens the door and walks out.

Jongup is lying, but why would he lie to Youngjae? He doesn’t know what else to expect besides the worst. When Jongup comes back with a tray of food, he leaves it on the desk beside Youngjae’s bed and walks back out. Youngjae eats the soup and roll of bread, his mind reeling with questions. He knows he saw Daehyun alive with Yongguk. He can still feel the way Daehyun’s hand felt in his own.

Youngjae gets dressed in a fresh set of clothes. His shoulder still stings a little where the bullet hit, but that’s the most he feels. He rolls the socket a couple times, smiling at Junhong and Hyosung’s work. When he looks at the desk, he finds the blue potion, still as fluorescent blue as when he first got it, standing atop a note. He reads it as he pockets the potion.

_Found this in the pocket of your jacket before we washed it. Figured it was important._

_\- Jongup_

Youngjae walks out of the cabin and into bright sunlight. Most of his crew is there to greet him before he can take even two steps on the deck.

“Captain! You’re awake!”

“He’s awake?”

“How are you?”

“Captain!”

Youngjae grins because he realizes how much he missed his crew. He hasn’t properly seen them since almost three weeks ago, but it feels more like a lifetime. He was so focused on Daehyun that he almost forgot about his crew.

“How’s Jongup treating you guys?” Youngjae asks as he makes his way to the helm.

“Like a tyrant!” someone replies with a laugh.

“I heard that!” Jongup shouts from the navigation table.

Youngjae climbs the stairs to the helm, unable to keep the smile off his face. He turns to the rest of his crew. “Alright, everybody, get back to work. We’ll do something nice when we reach Xalo.”

The deck erupts into cheers.

“Glad to have you back, Captain,” Jongup says, looking up from the map on the table.

Youngjae draws a deep breath of the salty ocean breeze. He smiles. “Thanks.”

“Captain, about Daehyun,” Jongup says, lowering his voice so only Youngjae can hear.

Youngjae’s smile drops from his face. His stomach drops to the bottom of the ocean. “What is it?”

“Come with me,” Jongup says.

Youngjae follows Jongup into the lower deck and into a spare bedroom, his anxiety building with each step until it feels like it’s crushing his chest. When Jongup opens the door, Youngjae sees Daehyun in a bed, breathing so slowly he almost looks dead. Youngjae stands above Daehyun, waiting for him to wake up, but he knows that can’t possibly happen so soon.

He knows the world doesn’t work as easily as it does in his dreams.

“Junhong told me what happened. About his light,” Jongup starts. “I tried researching about stars, but I couldn’t find anything about splitting their light as much as he did. There isn’t a lot written about stars in general. This is too rare of a case.”

“That’s alright,” Youngjae says. He takes a deep breath. “Do you mind leaving the room?”

Jongup doesn’t reply. Youngjae only hears the sound of the door opening, then closing. He sits on the chair, holding onto Daehyun’s hand. It’s still warm.

//

The next day, the crew holds a memorial for the people they lost. Each name that’s called out feels like a blow to the chest. Each person was like family.

Youngjae engraves each name into the side of the ship and neatly packs their gear into a chest to be thrown into the sea. It’s the only burial the crew sees fit.

//

Youngjae counts how many days pass until Daehyun wakes up.

The second day is the same as the first. So is the third. And the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth.

//

On the thirteenth day, Youngjae thinks Daehyun almost flutters his eyes open, but he realizes that it was only the sway of the boat.

//

The ship reaches Xalo on the eighteenth day.

Like Youngjae promised, he does something nice with the crew. There’s a festival going on when they arrive. He has fun, but Daehyun is still in the back of his mind.

//

By the twenty-third day, Youngjae is exhausted. He’s tired of waiting for something he isn’t even entirely sure will happen.

He sits in the chair by Daehyun’s bed, staring at the open book in his lap. He looks up to Daehyun’s peaceful face. He doesn’t want it to end like this. For all he knows, Daehyun could stay like this for as long as eternity. He didn’t even get to give Daehyun a proper goodbye. He takes a deep breath.

“I don’t really care if you can’t hear this, but I’ll say it anyway,” Youngjae starts, closing the book. “I’m sorry for the things I said, and I’m sorry for not seeing you as what you really are. You told me that there are good people in the world, that _I’m_ one of those people, and I remember thinking how _stupid_ you were for thinking that. Sure, there are people like Zico and Jieun, but that’s a small amount, isn’t it? You told me that I showed you the good in humanity, but I think it’s the other way around. I just wanted to say… I’m sorry, and thank you. For everything.”

Youngjae takes Daehyun’s hand into his own, squeezing his fingers, and brings Daehyun’s hand to his face. It still doesn’t feel right. He defeated Zico and Jieun, but at what cost? Was it all worth it to have Daehyun stuck like this?

“I… I drove you to this, didn’t I? Jongup did what he can, but not even Neptune can fix this,” Youngjae whispers. He takes deep breaths to keep himself from breaking down completely. “I’m so, so sorry it had to be like this.”

“Youngjae?”

Youngjae jumps out of his chair, and the book clatters to the floor. “Oh Neptune–– Daehyun?!”

Daehyun’s eyes flutter open and he turns his head to Youngjae. He sits up, eyebrows furrowed. He opens his mouth to say something, but Youngjae already has his arms around Daehyun, his face buried in Daehyun’s shoulder.

“Oh, um, okay,” Daehyun says, bringing his arms around Youngjae. “Youngjae?”

“Twenty-three days,” Youngjae whispers. “That’s how long you were out. I thought… I thought you were never going to wake up.”

Daehyun tightens his arms around Youngjae just a little bit more, pulling him closer. Youngjae sighs and closes his eyes, reveling in the warmth. He doesn’t know just how much he missed it until he’s engulfed in it again. He finally has Daehyun back, but he knows he can’t keep Daehyun here when he belongs in the sky.

“Daehyun, I gotta tell you something,” Youngjae says, pushing away slightly. He can feel the vial in the pocket of his jacket like a heavy weight. When he looks into Daehyun’s eyes, his throat closes up. He tries to swallow it. He takes the vial out of his pocket and places it in Daehyun’s palm, closing Daehyun’s fingers around it. “This potion will bring you home, back to the sky. I almost didn’t want to give it to you, but this is what we’ve been trying to do this whole time.”

Daehyun stares at the vial, then Youngjae, his eyes wide and, if Youngjae didn’t know any better, _scared_. “Youngjae, I…”

Before Daehyun can finish, Youngjae stands up. He can’t bear to be in the same room as Daehyun. He knows he’s only selfish for wanting to keep Daehyun here, but he knows it’s for the best. He leans down and presses his lips against Daehyun’s forehead. He rests his forehead on the crown of Daehyun’s head for a moment. “Take your time deciding, alright?”

Daehyun nods, but he doesn’t look at Youngjae. His eyes are on the vial.

Youngjae turns to walk to the door.

“Wait, Youngjae,” Daehyun says.

“Yeah?” Youngjae’s hand rests on the doorknob. He can’t look at Daehyun. Not when he’s on the verge of tears.

“I’ve made my choice.”

Youngjae turns around, half-expecting and half-dreading it. If he could be stupidly selfish with just one thing, he’d pick Daehyun. “Which is?”

Daehyun places the vial on the desk beside the bed. He smiles so wide, Youngjae almost goes blind. “I want to see the rest of Earth and I can’t see it that well from the sky. That being said, it’s up to you to show me everything.”

It takes Youngjae a few moments to finally realize what Daehyun is saying. When he does, he returns Daehyun’s smile with an excited laugh and falls onto the bed with Daehyun in his arms. When Youngjae meets Daehyun’s eyes, they sparkle with excitement and childish glee, reflecting the sun’s rays like brilliant pools of light.

Youngjae swears he can see infinite, swirling galaxies behind Daehyun’s eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> oh man i love stardust by neil gaiman a lot
> 
> come yell at me on my [tumblr](http://www.guernica-flow.tumblr.com)


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